Ralph
always considered Nayru’s hut to be cozy.Perhaps it was the fireplace.When a log sat ablaze, as it did now, the light of the flames would
reflect off the finish of the wooden walls, giving the entire room a sort of
golden glow.It reminded Ralph of the
light in a library or temple.Still, as
he sat in front of the fireplace, watching Nayru’s face across the table, the
cozy, safe feeling evaporated from his spine.

He knew
something was wrong the moment she sent the note, inviting him to tea.She never invited him to tea; that was an
activity strictly reserved for her female friends.At first, Ralph had simply chalked it up to her ongoing recovery
after the whole Veran incident.She was
still afraid, he told himself as he walked down the road to her hut, she was
simply nervous and needed his company, she needed him to comfort her.Who’d want to be alone after such a
trauma?But now, as he looked at her,
he knew that Nayru, as always, was anything but afraid.

“You look
troubled,” she said, running her finger around the rim of her porcelain tea
cup.

“I’m not,”
he lied.Immediately, he knew that was
a mistake.

“Tell the
truth,” she insisted.

Ralph
frowned.“I’ve been thinking
about…everything.Veran.The Oracle from Holodrum.The Twinrova creature.”It wasn’t entirely a lie.Ralph had spent a great deal of time
thinking about the whole incident.

Nayru
seemed to accept this for an answer.She nodded vaguely, taking a sip of her cold tea.“So have I.”

He
attempted a chuckle.“It’s sort of hard
to forget, isn’t it?”He waited for
Nayru to respond, but all she did was nod, keeping the cup to her lips.“I wonder where Link is now.”

Inwardly,
Ralph cringed.He hated it when Nayru
did that.She had a certain, blunt way
of speaking, one she generally reserved strictly for him.“We didn’t meet under the best of
circumstances,” he answered.

“That much
is true,” Nayru agreed.When Ralph
looked up at her heart shaped face, he could see traces of a smile.“Listen, Ralph…”

This time,
Ralph cringed outwardly.He knew all
too well what that tone of voice meant.Whenever Nayru started a sentence with ‘Listen, Ralph…’ he knew it meant
that she was going to ask him for a favor.Ralph wasn’t stingy with his favors, of course, but he wasn’t exactly
looking forward to what this one would be.After all, he had arrived with the feeling that something was seriously
wrong.For all he knew, this was going
to be it.

“Listen,
Ralph…I’ve been doing a lot of research on this Twinrova creature.It…she…is something serious.”

“I think we
established that when she…it…tried to resurrect the ancient Hylian
pig-monster.”

“Don’t be
glib.”

“Sorry.”And he meant that.

Nayru
sighed.“What I mean is…Twinrova is a
truly ancient evil.References to it or
her go back thousands of years.”

“Well, I
thought she looked a bit worn around the eyes.”

Apparently,
Nayru wasn’t in the mood for levity.She continued on.“Ancient
evils, they don’t stay away.”

“Link
killed her.”

“No.He just defeated her.Real evil can’t be killed. It can only be defeated temporarily.”

“What are
you saying?Are you afraid that
she…it…is going to come back again?”

“It’s
inevitable.”

“Then?”

“Inevitable,
but…”

“But what?”

Nayru
licked her lips, focusing intently on a spot on the wall, somewhere over
Ralph’s right shoulder.“It can be
delayed.”

“Delayed?How?”

“There’s a
ritual.Din was telling me about
it.It involves using three ancient
artifacts.”

“Which
are?”

“The Harp
of Ages.”

“That’s
yours.”

“The Rod of
Seasons.”

“Din.”

She paused
a moment before continuing.“And the
Amulet of Secrets.”

“The what
of the who?”

This time,
Nayru laughed a little bit.“The Amulet
of Secrets.”

“Never
heard of it.”

“Not
surprising,” Nayru sighed.“Few people
have.”

“Why?”

“According
to the texts I’ve been looking at, it was stolen decades ago by Derrial Kotay.”

“Derrial
Kotay,” Ralph repeated, turning the name over in his mind.“That sounds familiar.”

“He was
king of Galaxia in our grandparents’ time.”

Ralph
snapped his fingers, recognition coming to him in a flash.“Didn’t his son just die?”

Nayru
nodded.“His grandson is about to take
the throne.”

“Do you
think the Amulet is still there?”

“I’m sure
it is,” Nayru replied.She ran a hand
through her hair, watching her friend across the table.“Which is why I called on you this morning.”

It took a
few moments for the realization to hit Ralph.He stared blankly at Nayru, her words not yet penetrating his
consciousness.When they finally
managed to break through, he blinked his green eyes feeling quite certain he
had misheard her.“I’m sorry?”

“Ralph,”
Nayru said gently, reaching across the table and putting her hand firmly on of
both of his, folded on top.“I need you
to do this for me.”

“I’m sorry,
I must be going crazy,” Ralph said sharply, pulling his hands out from under
hers.“Because I could have sworn you
just asked me to steal a priceless artifact from royalty.”

“Ralph,
this is our one shot to seal Twinrova out of the realm.I have to try and do this.”

“Great,” he
said, standing abruptly.“You can go to
Galaxia and explain it to Derrial’s grandson.I’m sure he’ll be happy to lend you the Amulet.”

Nayru stood
as well.“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t
you?He’d have me thrown in the dungeon
for sounding like a crazy person!”

“And I’m
sure I won’t get thrown in the dungeon for getting caught stealing from the
treasury.”

“No, not
stealing.”

“What would
you call it?”

“Borrowing.”

He stared
at her.Nayru’s eyes were filled with
earnest as she looked up at him.Taking
a deep breath, he allowed a small smile to appear.“I must be crazy.”

“Oh,
Ralph!”She ran past the table and
threw her arms around his shoulders, hugging the life out of him.

Ralph
patted her back gently for a moment before pulling out of the embrace.“But I can’t promise anything.Larceny isn’t my thing.”

“I just
know you’ll manage.”

“You have
too much confidence in me, Nayru.I’m
not a thief.”

“Thieves
can’t be trusted.I trust you.”

“I’ll do
what I can.”

“Thank you,
Ralph.”

He raked
his fingers through his bright red hair.“How am I going to get to the treasury?”

“The castle
is going to be bustling with business,” Nayru said excitedly.She rushed over to her dresser and pulled
the top draw open, removing a scroll.“Derrial’s grandson, Prince Fiyero, needs to select a bride before he
can become king.”She handed the scroll
to Ralph.“All sorts of dignitaries
will be attending; you’ll be able to blend in easily.”

Ralph
unrolled the parchment.On the top was
a royal seal.His eyes danced back and
forth as he read the fancy script, written in purple ink.“By order of High Minister Lachesis Ibsen –”

“She’s
Prince Fiyero’s top advisor,” Nayru interjected.

“By order
of High Minister Lachesis Ibsen,” Ralph pressed forward, “a ball will be held
in honor of Fiyero of the Cilissa Clan, son of Aeschylus, son of Derrial, son
of…” Ralph skipped forward quite a bit, “so that his majesty may select among
the eligible princesses of the realm, a bride to be queen of Galaxia.”He stopped, looking up at Nayru.

“Ralph,”
Nayru said softly, touching his arm.“I
need you to do this for me.It’s the
only way.”

“I’ll keep
my word,” Ralph assured her.

“Thank
you.”

“I’ll get
your Amulet.But I’m not going to be
able to do it on my own.I’m going to
need help.”

If he could
have had his heart’s desire, anything in the entire universe, all Link would
have wished for was the chance to return to Hyrule.He had been away for so long now, that he was beginning to fear
he had forgotten what it smelled like to be home.It wasn’t for lack of trying either, that he had somehow
continually failed to reach his native shores.First there had been Holodrum and then Labrynna.After that, Link had been certain he was
done, but, fate just kept stepping in to prevent his triumphant return.This time, fate was in the form of the
Ruathan court.

Making eye
contact with Link, the page standing near the grand doorway to the throne room
pulled back on the iron handle.A small
procession walked in.Leading the pack
was the captain of the guard.Following
closely behind him were two more knights, holding, in between them, a gangly,
spry fellow with feathery tufts of brown hair.He was dressed in rags, his wrists held by iron shackles.Though he didn’t struggle as the guards led
him down the carpet to the throne dais, he made no attempts to mask the nasty
glares he was sending Link’s way.

Link
couldn’t really blame the fellow.He
had been responsible for his arrest.Still, as Link stood there on the dais, beside the throne, he felt a
twinge of doubt.What if his suspicions
were wrong?He glanced uneasily at the
old man sitting in the throne.The
fellow nodded in his direction.Steeling himself for whatever was to come, Link stepped down, off of the
dais, and addressed the prisoner.

“You were
caught lighting fire to the village well in the town of Arden,” Link told him
calmly.

The
prisoner lifted his chin to a fierce angle.“That’s right!” he said proudly, giving the guards holding him a smug
grin.

“You claim
that King Corbel paid you to stir up trouble,” Link continued, gesturing to the
throne.

“Yeah,” the
prisoner said fiercely.

The Captain
of the guard grabbed a handful of the prisoner’s hair.“Is this the man that hired you?” he
growled, turning the skinny man’s face in the direction of the throne.

“That’s
him, King Corbel!”

“I’ve heard
enough.”

From behind
the throne platform, the hanging red curtains parted.A powerfully built Human stepped out from behind them, walking up
onto the dais.He had broad shoulders,
but everything else about him seemed quite compact.His hair was dark black, graying slightly at the temples; his
goatee was also brushed with silver, although he looked in no way feeble.As the newcomer made his way to the throne,
the old man sitting in it stood up abruptly, removing the crown from his head
and handing it to the real King Corbel.

“Take him
away!” the captain of the guard barked to his men who promptly spirited the
confused prisoner out of the room.The captain
remained, turning to look at Link.“It
worked.”

“An old
classic,” Link replied proudly, climbing back up the steps of the throne
platform.

“Indeed,”
King Corbel grumbled, sitting down in his throne.“Pay this man,” he added, gesturing to the imposer who had
inhabited the seat a few moments ago.

“This way
please,” the captain said, escorting the old man out of the room.

King Corbel
turned to look at Link.While he never
smiled, Link could tell that he was pleased.His eyes seemed a bit less beady than usual.“Another trouble maker from Galaxia exposed.You have my thanks, Link.”

Link bowed
slightly.“I just don’t like trouble.”

“I’m afraid
it’s been increasing ever since King Aeschylus died,” Corbel muttered, bridging
his fingers.“Prince Fiyero has made
his intentions about Ruatha perfectly clear.”

“That
doesn’t make any sense,” Link said.

“Why do you
say that?”

“Galaxia is
too far away from Ruatha.Why would he
want this land?He wouldn’t be able to
control it.”

“He could
control it indirectly, assuming he were actually capable of taking the city,”
Corbel said.

“How?”

“Oh, many
ways.He could appoint a governor from
his own staff.He could impose military
rule.He could leave Galaxia in the
hands of his advisors and oversee Ruatha personally.”

“I’m still
not convinced he wants to declare war,” Link said.

“Legally,
he cannot declare war until he’s officially named king,” Corbel explained.

“And?”

“And until
that time, all he can do is stir up trouble on a local scale.Lighting fires to wells and such.”

“What do
you plan to do?”

Corbel
sighed, leaning back in his throne.“The way I see it, I have several options.I can ignore it.”

“Which
could only lead to more trouble.”

“I can
attempt to arrange some kind of treaty.”

“Which
would make you look like you were surrendering.”

“Or,”
Corbel paused, scowling.“I can beat
him to the quick and declare war on him first.”

Link
blinked in surprise.“You’re not
seriously considering…”

“It appears
to be the only avenue at the moment.I’ll admit, I’ve been trying to put off the decision as long as
possible, but I’m running out of village wells.”

“King
Corbel…”

Corbel
waved a meaty hand, dismissing Link before he could continue.“I know what you’re going to say.”

“You do?”

“You’re
going to tell me that war isn’t the answer.”

“Well…”

“That
fighting never solved any thing.”

“I…”

“And that
all our problems can be worked out if we just talk to one another like
civilized adults.”

“Do I
really sound like that?”

“Yes, you
do.Which I might add, is a bit
hypocritical considering all of your famous exploits against monsters and
fiends.”

“Monsters
and fiends don’t sit down like civilized people and talk.Some of them don’t even have mouths.”

“Link, I
don’t like the idea of war any more than you do.It’s expensive, messy, and a big waste of time in the end.However, I’m a rapidly losing patience with
these Galaxians.”

“Send
someone to talk to them.”

“If I send
someone,” Corbel answered, “it’s very likely they’ll be killed on the spot.”

“There must
be some way to delay this, even if for a short period of time.This isn’t worth a war.”

“I’ll tell
you what I’ll do.I’ll make an accord
with you.”

Link
scrunched up his face, looking a bit confused.“What do you mean?”

“Go to
Galaxia on Ruatha’s behalf.”

“But didn’t
you just say that –”

“They won’t kill you.You’re a third party.The Hylians are neutral.”

“What will
I do there?”

“Appeal to
their better natures.Give them the
inspirational speeches you’re always sharing with me.Try and convince them to cease hostilities before things get out
of hand.”

Link sighed
heavily.“All right.”

“I’ll give
you until Fiyero attains the title of king.If, when he ascends, he declares war, then I’ll be done with talking.”

“That’s
fair,” Link told him.

“In your
talks, remember, Ruatha will cede nothing, but we will not make any
demands.All we want is to return to
peace.”

“I’ll do
what I can.”

“Go, gather
your belongings.I’ll have my
attendants prepare a coach to take you across the terrain.My swiftest horses will get you to Galaxia
in two days.”

“Ah yes, your
Hylian parlor tricks.I’d
forgotten.Well, best of luck to you then.Thank you for all your help.”

“And thank
you for this opportunity.”

King Corbel
nodded.Link knew the gesture.It meant the conversation was over.Even if Link had had anything else to say,
it wouldn’t have been heard.Turning on
heel, Link trotted down the steps of the throne platform and passed through the
throne room, going out the far entrance.He wasn’t sure how to feel at this moment.On the one hand, he had gotten his way and delayed the war, at
least for awhile.On the other hand, as
he thought about it, he realized that Hyrule was farther away now.A sigh managed to escape his lips.He would never get home at this rate.

“Maple!”

Maple was sitting on the
windowsill.It was a funny thing to
call the ledge.There wasn’t actually a
window.That had been boarded up years
ago after an unfortunate vacuuming accident.Nevertheless, everyone still called it the windowsill.Now, Maple sat there, flipping absently
through the book on her lap.She should
have been studying her spells, but for some reason, she felt a bit distracted.

“Maple!”

She leaned her back against the
wall, running a hand through her knotty hair.In all her life, Maple could not remember a time when she successfully
got her fingers all the way through.They would always catch on something gnarl or tangle.She had her genetics to blame for that.Both her mother and grandmother had curly
hair.Maple’s hair wasn’t curly.It was wavy and, from lack of proper
maintenance, a bit of a mess to be honest.

“Maple!”

The words on the page were getting
wavy now.They danced in front of
Maple’s eyes but said nothing to her.Chewing on the tips of her hair, she ran a finger across the ink.She could feel the indentations from the
ancient quills that had originally written the words.Secretly, that was Maple’s favorite thing about the spell
books.She loved the history behind the
words.Sometimes, late at night, Maple
would lay awake, making up stories about the long gone witches.It was rare that she was allowed to look at
the history books, so she came up with her own names for these characters.

“Maple!”

The book went flying out of Maple’s
hands and she looked up to be greeted by a cross look from her grandmother,
standing over her.“What is it?” Maple
asked, fighting to keep the irritation out of her voice.

“I’ve been calling you for two
minutes,” the old woman answered in her cracked voice, which, in all honesty,
reminded Maple far too much of a frog.

“What do you want?”

“There’s someone at the door.”

“So?”

“So!Answer it!”

“Why can’t you?”As Maple sat there, she could now hear the
persistent knocking of someone at the door.

“It’s the middle of the
afternoon.You know what the sunlight
does to my cataracts.”

“Yes, Grandmother.”

“Now go answer the door.”

Maple hefted herself off the ledge,
walking in the direction her grandmother pointed insistently.She passed the family tapestry, the only
remaining artifact of any value from the old country which her grandmother had
managed to salvage years ago.This was
Maple’s favorite thing in the house, hands down.She didn’t recognize any of the names on the family tree, but she
loved to make stories about them.Her
favorite name was Orestes Fleance and although she had no idea who he really
was or where he came from, she could see him perfectly in her mind’s eye.

The incessant knocking
continued.“Coming!” Maple shouted,
racing to the door.“All right
already!”

She pulled open the door to find
Ralph on the other side, his fist poised to knock again.Their eyes locked and suddenly the rest of
the world seemed to deteriorate into the recesses of Maple’s mind.Hungrily, she drank in the sight of the
handsome gentleman, his piercing green eyes, that flaming red hair which would
absolutely never lie flat.He looked
better than the last time they had met, lost a little weight, put on some
muscles.Her jaw slowly dropped.Neither of them could conjure up the words
to say, all intelligible speech vanished as the two of them stared.

“Ralph…”Maple slammed the door in his face, but Ralph was quicker,
throwing his arms out to catch the door just before it could latch.

“Maple!” he yelped.She pressed on the door, trying to slam it
shut despite the fact that Ralph’s fingers were inconveniently in the way.After another attempt, she turned on heel
and stalked away.Ralph pushed the door
open, following her inside.“Something
tells me you’re not glad to see me.”

“Gee,” she snapped, whirling around
to face him.“I just thought I’d never
see you again.”

“You’re mad at me,” Ralph said,
stepping forward.Maple grabbed a broom
resting in the corner of the entryway, pointing the handle directly at his
chest.He held up his hands quickly.“I understand, I understand!”

“Why are you here?” she asked,
narrowing her eyes.

Ralph frowned.“The truth is I’ve spent the last couple of
months feeling really bad about the way things ended between us.”

“You’ve got no one to blame but
yourself.Get out!”

“Let me finish!”Ralph allowed his arms to drop slowly.“I’ve been trying to think of a way to make
it up to you.”

The handle of the broom
dropped.Maple regarded him in silence
for an uncomfortable amount of time before responding in a quiet voice.“Oh yeah?”

“Maple, I have a proposal for you.”

By this point, the broom was
dropped to the floor.Maple’s eyes grew
a little wider and she took a step in his direction.“Yeah?”

“How would you like to be a
princess?”

Maple blinked.“A princess?”

“Listen,” Ralph reached forward and
took Maple’s shoulders, “the prince of Galaxia is throwing a ball.He can’t be king until he has a queen or
something like that.Anyway, everyone
who’s anyone is going to be there.And
I want to take you.”Ralph reached into
his cloak and pulled out a scroll of parchment.He unfurled it.“Right
here, listen –”

She snatched the scroll out of his
hand.“Princess!”She jabbed the parchment on the word.“Princess!I’m not a princess!”

Angrily, she hurled the scroll back
at him.“I don’t have time for this.”

“You’d get a castle,” Ralph pressed
on.“A beautiful, big castle.You could move your grandmother out of this
dump.”

“This dump is our home!” Maple
snapped.She leaned over and picked up
the broom, sweeping the floor angrily though, as always, it was clean enough to
eat off of, truth be told.

“I know!I know!I didn’t mean it
to sound like that.But think of it
Maple, you could improve your life so much.”

“Why are you doing this anyway?”

“I just want to see you happy,”
Ralph told her.“And you could be so
very happy in a castle.How much
happier could you be than living the life of royalty?Don’t you see?That’s my
reward, your happiness.That and
accomplishing a minor errand for Nayru.”

“It’s deception.”

“It’s role play.”Snorting, Maple turned to walk away.Ralph watched her as she passed the family
tapestry.“Think of it as making up a
story.”That got Maple to stop.Ralph made his way over to her, his speech
picking up momentum.“You can come up
with all sorts of valiant tales about your own fake ancestors.This is the chance of a lifetime.”

“But no one is going to believe
that I’m a princess,” Maple said softly, still facing away.“Princesses have tutors and advisors and
stuff.”

“You don’t have to be
intelligent.You just have to pretend
you are.”

She circled around, glaring at him.“That isn’t funny.”

“Sorry!”

“This just isn’t going to work.”

“But you’ll have me.”

Maple folded her arms across her
chest.“What?”

“You don’t need tutors or
advisors.I’ll teach you everything
you’ll need to know.I’ll be right at
your side every step of the way.”

Her resolution began to crack.“Every step?”

“I promise.I’ll be at your side.”Maple allowed her arms to drop.“And we’ll start right now.We’ll have to get you all new clothing.”

She looked down at her plain lilac
shift.“What’s wrong with my clothing?”

“Well, it’s not…” Ralph fumbled,
afraid to offend her again.“It’s not
very princess-like.”

“Oh.”

“Take off your hat.”Maple obeyed, tossing her old floppy hat
down to the floor.Her dark hair, a
gnarled and tangled mass, fell about her shoulders.“Oh, this is going to take a lot of work.But we can do it, we can do it.”

“And just where am I supposed to
get fancy dresses and hair care products?” she asked, planting a hand on her
hip.

“Leave that to me,” Ralph
replied.“We’ll set off for Galaxia
first thing in the morning.We should
arrive by the afternoon.For the next
twelve hours, I want you to focus on improving your posture.”

“What’s wrong with my posture?”

“It’s just not ladylike.”

“What do you expect me to do?”

“Well…”Ralph cautiously approached her, holding his hands out.Gently, he pressed his right hand into the
small of her back, putting his left hand on her shoulder and pulling her into a
ramrod straight stance.

Maple watched him as he worked,
adjusting her position with his hands.They felt warm and familiar and although she stared at him, in her mind
their all too brief romance replayed before her eyes.She remembered the way he had courted her, he would always sneak
little trinkets into her pockets when she wasn’t paying attention.Although she didn’t dare tell anyone, she
kept every last one in a big box underneath her bed.

“And there you are,” Ralph said,
pulling his hands away.

Blinking rapidly, Maple revived
herself from the reverie.“Yeah…here I
am.”She was secretly glad to be back
in Ralph’s arms, even if this was a little bit different than last time.

Attention in the Galaxian throne
room was always focused on one single thing.Prince Fiyero’s nose.To be
certain, he was an extremely handsome man with golden brown skin, stretched
taut over impressive, but not overpowering, muscles.His eyes were hazel and the whites were perfectly white.He wore his hair in long, skinny dreadlocks,
going down over his shoulders and halfway to his tight rump.A little goatee ran over his chiseled
jaw.Yet, it was his nose, of all
things, that made it absolutely clear he was royalty.His nose was perfect, utterly sublime.He tilted it upward at a very slight angle, high enough to make
sure everyone knew he was top dog, but not so high as to appear snobbish.

For the briefest of moments, when
Lachesis walked into the throne room, marching down the central aisle with
determined purpose, the focus in the room shifted from Prince Fiyero’s nose,
but it quickly returned to its rightful place as Lachesis, in her typical
hurry, was acknowledged.Lachesis knew
the routine well enough.At the foot of
the throne, she bowed before daring to look up, fixing her own gaze on Fiyero’s
perfect nose.

“Your majesty,” she mumbled.

“Good morning, Lachesis,” Fiyero
greeted her pleasantly.He had a
soothing, silky voice, nearly perfect, but not as perfect as his nose.

“There’s a young man outside who
wishes to hold an audience with you,” Lachesis told him.

“Who is he?”

“He calls himself Link of Hyrule.”

Fiyero’s eyebrows shot up.“The Hero of Holodrum?Here?”

“Yes,” Lachesis replied with a
nod.She pushed a long, black curtain
of hair over her shoulder.“Shall I
send him away?Today is an important day;
I would hate to have you distracted.”

“How often am I visited by
Hylians?Send him in, please.”

“As you wish,” she sighed,
gesturing to a knight by the door.Immediately, the knight marched out of the throne room with the loud
clank of ceremonial armor.Everyone in
the castle hated special occasions because it meant the knights had to wear their
armor.Those with sensitive ears tended
to choose such days for a holiday.

“I wonder what a Hylian could
possibly be doing here,” Fiyero said in sotto to his high minister.

“We shall soon find out,” Lachesis
muttered absently.“And I do hope he’s
brief.The guests will be arriving
within an hour.”

“The Hylian is a guest of my
kingdom just as much as all the princesses you’ve invited,” Fiyero told
her.“I won’t have him treated in any
way inferior.”

“Of course, sire.”

“Ah, here he comes now.”

The clanking of armor returned
along with the knight who once again took up post near the door.Behind him, Link entered the throne
room.He seemed a bit dazed, uncertain
of what he was supposed to be doing.The knight who had escorted him in gently prodded his back, directing
him down the center aisle to where Fiyero and Lachesis watched.When Link arrived, he bowed.Lachesis cleared her throat delicately.“Prince Fiyero of the Cilissa Clan, son of
Aeschylus, son of Derrial, I present Link, our Hylian guest.”

“Your majesty,” Link said politely.

“Rise,” Fiyero told him.As Link obeyed, Fiyero rose from his
throne.He was an imposing figure,
nearly six feet tall.His dress this morning
didn’t make him less so.Prince Fiyero
wore a tunic of chain mail and leather pants.Over this was a long leather coat, sleeveless, going down to Fiyero’s
impressive calves.He extended an arm
out in Link’s direction.“Welcome to
Galaxia,” he said as Link clasped his wrist around his leather gauntlet.They exchanged a warrior’s handshake, though
Fiyero, all things told, had never fought in a war to date.“You’ve come a long way.”

“Yes, I have,” Link agreed,
releasing Fiyero’s wrist and taking a small step back away from the platform.

“What brings you to my kingdom?”
Fiyero asked.

“I come on behalf of King Corbel.”

Lachesis clapped her hands
twice.“Seize him,” she barked to the
guards by the door.

The guards started to walk forward,
but Fiyero held up a hand.“Belay that
order.”

“Sire,” Lachesis hissed, “he’s here
on behalf of the Ruathan king!”

“There’s nothing wrong with my
hearing, Lachesis.”

“He’s here to cause trouble.”

“I am not!” Link sniffed
defensively.

“You hear that?” Fiyero said with a
smirk, jerking his head in Link’s direction.“He is not.”

“The Ruathans have been causing us
nothing but trouble for the last two and a half years,” Lachesis snipped.“Do you remember what they did to the
village well in Saroyan?”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

“So kill him!”

“I am not about to kill him.He’s a Hylian, obviously he has no profit in
the hostilities between Galaxia and Ruatha.”

“That’s right!” Link declared.

“Then why are you here on behalf of
the Ruathan king?” Lachesis snapped back at him.

Ignoring Lachesis, Link turned to
address Fiyero.“King Corbel has sent
me to speak with you about ending the hostilities.”

“King Corbel has no desire for
war,” Link said earnestly.He glanced
at Fiyero.“And my guess is that your
heart isn’t in it either.Think of the
cost.War is a messy business and you’d
lose hundreds of your people, perhaps even thousands.I know that in your heart, what you want is peace too.”

“You’re right.”

It took Link a moment to register
what Fiyero had just said.“I’m
sorry?What did you say?”

“I said, you’re right.I have no desire for war with Ruatha.”

“You don’t?”

“No.”

“But I thought that –”

“Your majesty,” Lachesis
hissed.“Saroyan.Revenge must be taken.Retribution cries out for Ruathan blood.”

Fiyero was about to reply when a
crash of armor interrupted him.A new
knight looked in on the room.“Your
majesty,” he called, his voice muffled underneath the visor of his helmet,
“Princess Aislinn of Shaldani has just arrived.”

“Already?” Lachesis yelped.

Sighing heavily, Fiyero made a
dismissive gesture.“Escort her in, at
her leisure,” he instructed the knight.As the clunky knight departed, Fiyero gave Link an apologetic look.“A royal ball is being held so that I may
pick my queen from the eligible princesses of the realm,” he explained.

“My timing is off, I see,” Link
muttered.

“No, no, not at all.I invite you to join in the festivities,
Link.”

“Your majesty, I really must
object!” Lachesis blurted.

“Put it in writing,” Fiyero told
her dismissively.He never took his
eyes off of Link.“Do you have the
proper attire?”

Link looked down at his green
tunic.“This is all I ever wear.”

“Well, you must be sick of it.I’ll have some seamstresses bring you a
selection for the ball.”

“Thank you very much, your
highness.”

“I should be the one thanking you.”

“And why is that?”

“It’s not every day we have a
Hylian visiting court,” Fiyero told him pleasantly.“And you bring excellent tidings of peace.”

“That is all King Corbel
wants.Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Good.Guard!”A knight
approached halfway to the throne.“Please escort Link to the castle steward and then to guest quarters.Then see to the seamstresses.”

Together, the two of them exited
the throne room with the usual raucous crashing of armor.“I don’t trust him, your majesty,” Lachesis
whispered as she watched them disappear.

“I know you don’t,” Fiyero replied.

“He’s allied with Ruatha.He could be trouble.”

“He might be, but then again, he
might be exactly what he claims to be.A doorway to peace.”

“Are you certain peace is what you
want given the crimes of the Ruathans?” Lachesis asked.

“What is war but a crime on a grand
scale?”

“Are you sure this is the way
princesses wear their hair?” Maple asked yet again, awkwardly touching the foot
high turban wrapped on the top of her head.

“When they’re traveling, yes,”
Ralph replied with a sigh, sounding a little bit annoyed.“Besides, we need to keep your hair hidden
until that cream takes full effect on it.”

“What’s it going to look like when
it’s done?”

“Hopefully the opposite of a
beehive.”

“Hey!”

They had been on the road all
morning, traveling in a hired coach that Maple couldn’t figure out how Ralph
had managed to pay for.The curtains
were drawn tightly shut and they sat on opposite couches.Maple felt absolutely ridiculous.Ralph had her dressed up in the most absurd
and elaborate get up she had ever laid eyes on.Aside from the turban, wrapped of pink silk with a blue trim, she
wore a blue riding cloak.Ralph had
instructed her to keep it tightly buttoned, as the dress underneath it, a
parsley green gown with empire waistline, didn’t match.

“Say the line again.”

“Do I have to?”

“Say it.”

Maple sighed, rolling her
eyes.“The new nymph had never before
met a nicer neighbor.Like I’m ever
going to use that in a conversation.”

“It’s just a drill.The point is to improve your diction.”

“What’s wrong with my diction?”

“Well, it’s just not very
princess-like.”

“That’s starting to annoy me.”

“And another thing, while we’re at
it.You need to stop rolling your
eyes.I don’t mind it, of course, but
royalty will take issue with it.”

“Can’t we make up my royal lineage
now?” she asked, eager to create a story for herself.

“Maple, no one is going to ask you
for your lineage.”

“I’m beginning to think I won’t
like this,” she muttered.“You can’t
dress like you want, you can’t talk like you want, and you can’t roll your eyes
when someone is being incredibly stupid.”She put emphasis on ‘stupid’ while looking at Ralph.

“Maple…”

“Why can’t I just be myself,
Ralph?”

“Well…you can be,” Ralph said, his
eyes racing with thought.“In fact, you
should be.Just, like every other
woman, wait until you get married before you start doing that.”

“Married!Don’t you dare rush me into that!”The carriage bounced over a rock in the road and Maple fell over
to her side.She sat up again,
gesturing angrily, “I’m not going to marry someone I don’t love!”

“Stop flailing,” Ralph cried
urgently.“Your dress will come
unlaced.”

“You didn’t lace it properly,”
Maple sneered.

“Well, I’m sorry.I’m better at unlacing them!”

Maple sighed, resting her head
against the wall of the carriage.“What
if this guy turns out to be awful?I’ve
known a few horrible men, you know.”

“Well, give him a chance,” Ralph
urged her.“He has quite the
reputation.He’s young, rich, and
possibly even better looking than me.”He paused to consider it.“Well,
maybe not that last part.”

“You know…being practical all the
time isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged.“What about love?You can’t be practical in love.”

“I think we should get back to your
lessons,” Ralph said quickly.

“All right, all right.”Maple frowned.“Maybe you should instruct me on current events a little bit.”

“Why?”

“Well, what am I going to talk
about with this prince?”

Ralph chuckled.“Talk about?Oh Maple, he doesn’t expect you to talk about current events.”

“Well?”

“Just talk about him.He’s a man.Men always think they’re the most important topic of conversation.”

“I suppose you would know,” she
said hotly.

“In my case, it’s justified.”

Maple did not look amused.“You’re not helping.”

“Well, you don’t really have to say
anything at all,” Ralph continued.“Just smile a lot and bat your eyelashes.”

“That’s it!” Maple declared.She stood up and started banging on the roof
of the coach.“I want out, let me
out!”

The carriage hit another bump and
Maple lost her balance.She toppled
forward, crashing into Ralph who just managed to catch her.They locked eyes, their heads bobbing
slightly with the sway of the road.Ralph needed a moment to swallow.He wetted his lips, trying to right Maple again.“That was a little obvious.Throwing yourself at a prince is never a good
idea.”

Maple snarled.“I quit!”

By this point, the carriage had
slowed to a stop.“Quit?You can’t quit.Not after all the work I’ve done.”

“All the work you’ve done?”Maple stared at him disbelievingly.“All the work you’ve done?”

“Yes, all the work I’ve done,” he
replied.

“I’m sorry, are you the one being
forced to wear stupid costumes?Are you
the one being handled like a rag doll because your posture isn’t good
enough?Are you the one whose diction
isn’t good enough?”

“Now Maple, calm down!”

“I detest you!”

Ralph blinked in surprise.“What?”

“I detest you.”

“Maple, you just said detest.”

“So?”

“So!It was absolutely perfect!”

She was caught so off guard that
she completely forgot to be angry.“What?”

Maple was soon caught up in his
excitement.“I did it?I really did it?”

“You did it!”He knocked against the wall of the
carriage.“Driver, onward.We have a ball to get to.”

The carriage started moving
again.“Was I really perfect?”

“Absolutely,” Ralph told her in a
tender voice, leaning forward to take her hand.

“I’ve never seen you so excited
before,” Maple murmured, looking down at their hands.

Ralph stroked the back of her hand
with his thumb.He leaned forward
slightly, gazing into Maple’s eyes.“Only one thing left to do,” he said.

She leaned in, unable to tear her
gaze away from him.“Yes?” she said
softly, bringing her face closer to his.

“A name.”

“What?”

He sat back up straight, releasing
her hand.“We need to think up a name
for you.”

“A name.”

“Yes, you don’t hear about many
princesses named Maple.”

“I guess not,” Maple said, slumping
back against her seat.“Sit up straight.”

“Sorry.”Maple sat up straight.

“We’ll need to come up with a
kingdom for you too.”

“Right.”

“Now, let me think.What can we borrow?Princess Aislinn of Shaldani?No, who in their right mind would travel
from Shaldani all the way to Galaxia?”

The rest of the carriage ride
consisted of Ralph trying out names and rejecting them.Maple watched him sullenly, not saying much
of anything.She wondered about this
prince she was going to meet.What
would he be like?Normally, when Maple
wondered about a person, she would make up a little story that would set her
heart at rest, but she couldn’t do that with Fiyero.She knew she’d be meeting him soon enough and she didn’t want her
expectations to be crushed.Not again.

When there was a knock at her door,
Phillia didn’t want to answer.She sat
frozen on the foot of her bed, staring at the wall, watching the shadows the
afternoon sun cast move.There was so
much tension in her hands that her knuckles had turned white.“Come in,” she called in a choked voice.

The door opened and Phillia
instantly relaxed somewhat when the round faced boy entered, shutting the door
behind her.“I’ve been sent by your
sister,” he said.Immediately, the
tension was back.

“What does Lachesis want?” Phillia
asked.She and her sister did not look
like sisters at all.Aside from the
fact that they both had the same delicate, almond shaped eyes, they were polar
opposites, Lachesis with her curtain of black hair, Phillia with her long blond
curls, Lachesis with her severe, high cheekbones, Phillia whose face still
retained traces of baby fat and dimples.

The young man reached out, handing
Phillia a roll of parchment, sealed with Lachesis’ seal.“She told me to give you this.”

“Of course,” Phillia muttered,
accepting the scroll.“The gods forbid
she should come in person to speak with me.”Grumbling thus, Phillia broke the seal and unfurled the parchment.Her eyes danced back and forth, scanning the
paper.It was written in the old
language.Phillia might have laughed at
her sister’s paranoia, but the words before her weren’t very funny.

“What does she say?” the young man
asked curiously.

Phillia bit her lips together for a
moment, fearful that if she tried to say anything, a great sob would
escape.“She says,” Phillia answered
slowly, “that you are to prepare me for the ball tonight, Jason.”

“The ball?”Jason blinked, as if not quite
comprehending.

“The ball.”

“But…but…the only women attending
the ball tonight will be the princesses suing for Fiyero’s hand.”

“Yes.”

Jason knelt down beside the bed,
gently pulling the letter in his direction.He quickly scanned the page.“Oh
gods.”

“Yes.”

“Oh gods.”

“She wants me to vie with the other
girls to be Fiyero’s wife!”Phillia
buried her face in her hands, fighting back tears.

“But that’s not possible,” Jason
said, rolling up the message of doom.“You’re not a princess.”

“If our clan was still intact,”
Phillia told him, her voice breaking every once and again, “I would technically
have the title.I wouldn’t be a ruling
princess, but I’d be a princess.”

“But the clan is gone!”

“You know how Lachesis is,” Phillia
sighed.She lifted her head from her
hands, looking down at Jason.Filled
with heaviness, she slid off of the edge of the bed, landing on the floor
beside him.

“This wasn’t part of the plan.Why is she changing the plan?”

“Something must have stood in the
way of her ‘perfect’ plan,” Phillia muttered angrily.

Jason opened his mouth and closed
it again, looking a bit like a fish out of water.“Well, that’s wrong.”

“We have no choice, neither of us.”

She leaned her head on his
shoulder, several curls spiraling down his chest.Jason watched her intently with his gentle brown eyes.“Lachesis would be very cross, wouldn’t
she?If we showed any sign of
disapproval.”

“Yes.”

He pulled back, placing his hands
on her shoulders and forcing her to look into his eyes.“We could leave.”

“What?”

“We could run away.”

“Elope?”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“Phillia…”

“No, no, no,” Phillia stood up,
crossing the room to her closet.She
wheeled back around, pointing at Jason.“That would never work!”

“Why not?”

“She’d find us.You know she’d be capable of it.No matter where we went, she’d manage to
track us down eventually.”

“So are we to live in fear for the
rest of our lives?” he asked, standing up to face her.

“Yes.”

“Are we to live in fear and
loveless marriages?”

“You know I wouldn’t choose
it.”She sighed, turning around.“Who knows?Maybe I won’t please Fiyero.”Pulling her closet doors open, she blinked away a few tears and began to
examine the dresses inside.Suddenly,
she felt Jason’s arms snake around her waist.“Jason…”

“You’re the prettiest girl in
Galaxia. I daresay the world.”

“Jason…”

“No, let me finish.We all know how much our beloved prince
values outward beauty.He’s always
flaunting his own.How in the world can
you think that you wouldn’t please him?He’d choose you in a heartbeat.”

“Maybe you’re not giving him enough
credit.There must be more to him than
there is to him.”She leaned against
his chest, feeling his pulse on her back.“I’ll do my best to displease him, but Lachesis will know.”

“She’s been into all sorts of
things lately,” Jason mumbled.“Dangerous, powerful things.”

“The plan must have gone wrong.”

“Yes.”

“Which means, I have to play the
dutiful sister and become a princess.”She sighed.“Oh, I don’t know
the first thing about being a princess!”

Within his arms, Phillia turned
around to face him.She draped her
hands over his shoulders, absently touching his soft brown hair with her
fingertips.“I wish I could have said
yes to you.”

“I know.”

“I’d leave in an instant if I had
the choice.”

“There’s nothing left for us here.”

“Lachesis seems to think there is.”

“Lachesis tends to obsess,” Jason
countered.

“She just doesn’t like to let go of
an old grudge.”

“That’s another way of saying obsessive.”

Phillia lowered her eyes, looking
at the hollow of Jason’s throat, very evident as he never seemed to take the
time to tie the strings of his tunic all the way.His sloppiness was something Phillia absolutely adored.“Maybe we can steal a dance tonight at the
ball before the prince arrives?”

“The prince always arrives first.”

“Oh.”

“But maybe when his back is
turned,” Jason added quickly with a gleam in his eyes.

“Just be sure Lachesis has her back
to us too.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Phillia trailed a finger down
Jason’s chest, in between the flaps of his tunic.“We still have a few hours before the ball.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

“And I fully intend to make the
most of them.”

“How?”

Jason leaned forward.Gently, he brushed his lips against
hers.Phillia clapped her hands to
either side of his face.Drawing him
closer, she kissed him.Jason was
surprised at first.He blinked a few
times, not sure what had just happened.As his mind cleared, he kissed her back, throwing aside their troubles
for one moment of perfect happiness.

“Princess Charlotte of Brennen,” a
page announced as yet another princess was paraded into the throne room.She walked down the carpeted aisle to the
foot of the throne where Fiyero stood.

“Princess,” Fiyero said, taking her
hand and kissing it as she curtsied, “welcome to Galaxia.”

With that, she was escorted to
guest quarters, just like the dozens and dozens of girls who had entered before
her and the dozens more waiting to be introduced.Lachesis entered without introduction, pushing aside a few of the
last members of Charlotte’s train to make her way to Fiyero before another girl
could be introduced.“Your majesty,”
she called, barely pausing to curtsy.

“What is it, Lachesis?”

Brushing her long hair over her
shoulder, Lachesis climbed a step of the throne platform, leaning close to
whisper to Fiyero.“I’ve just received
word of another attack by a Ruathan troublemaker.”

At this point, Link appeared in the
doorway to the throne room.He started
to walk forward toward the throne, but the page by the door stopped him.Rolling his eyes skyward, Link murmured a
few words to the page who then turned to address the room.“Link of Hyrule.”

With that, Link was released and
made his way down the aisle to where Lachesis and Fiyero were huddling.“It seems there’s a deviance between your
message of peace and the acts of war being wrought on my territories,” Fiyero
told him in a very stern whisper.

“What?”

“The village of Greene,” Lachesis
said, folding her arms across her chest.“Don’t act like you didn’t know it would happen.”

“I didn’t know what would happen?”

“There was trouble in the village.”

“Is anyone hurt?” Link asked
urgently.

Lachesis scowled.“No.But the bake shop was burnt down and there are a lot of angry people
without bread.”

“This is getting out of hand,”
Fiyero said gruffly.“These Ruathan
antics must be stopped once and for all.”

“A likely story,” Lachesis
sneered.“He wants to get our guard
down so he can attack.”

“That’s not true!”

“Enough!” Fiyero roared, a bit
louder than he ought to have let his voice get in the middle of court.He turned to address Link.“I suggest you get yourself back to Ruatha
at once.”

“But…”

Fiyero held up a hand to silence
him.“I have a message for Corbel.Tell him his people are no longer welcome in
my land.”

“Princess Kym of Ruatha!” the page
by the door cried.

In an instant, Link, Fiyero, and
Lachesis all turned to look up.Link
felt himself deflate instantly.Standing there beside the page, he at once recognized Ralph, the annoying
young man who had followed him around during his exploits in Labrynna a few
months back.Ralph looked very much the
same as ever, though his clothing was a bit more ceremonious than usual, dark
gray leggings under a red and gold tunic, and on his arm was a woman.Link squinted his eyes slightly, looking
closer.No!It couldn’t be, it couldn’t possibly be!But it was.Standing beside Ralph, looking absolutely ridiculous in a high turban,
was the witch Maple.

“Guards!” Lachesis shouted, “Seize
them!”

The color drained from Ralph’s
face.“Oh, I’m sorry.Is this a bad time?Well, we’ll just be…”He and Maple backed up, but quickly found
that several knights had appeared behind them, brandishing swords menacingly.

“Take them away!” Lachesis barked.

One of the guards grabbed Maple’s
arm.“Stop that!” Ralph snapped,
slapping the hand.“Take your hands off
of the princess.”

“And just who are you?” Lachesis
asked, gesturing for the guards to wait a moment.

Ralph threw back his head proudly,
brushing his hair out of his face.“I
am Ralph,” he announced in a booming voice, “advisor to the king.”

“He’s given you some rather bad
advice,” Fiyero said quietly.

“Ralph,” Link muttered, narrowing
his eyes.He walked across the room
toward them, registering their shared surprise at seeing Link of all people in
a place like Galaxia.“I know exactly
who this man is, your majesty,” he said, turning around to face Fiyero.“And believe me when I say that King Corbel
would trust his daughter to no one else, but Ralph.”

“King Corbel is a fool, then,”
Lachesis sneered.

“Don’t you see?” Link addressed
Fiyero.“This is a gesture of
peace.King Corbel’s own daughter.His only daughter.”

“It’s a trick, your majesty,”
Lachesis said.

“How can it be a trick?” Link
asked.“One girl, completely at your
mercy, with only a weak and pitiful advisor to protect her.”

“Hey!” Ralph cried.

“This is a gesture of peace,” Link
pressed on.

Fiyero had been silently stroking
his chin up until this point.Now he
moved forward, crossing the room toward the others.Disgruntled, Lachesis hefted up her black, gathered skirt and
followed behind him, the sharp points of her heels clicking angrily on the
floor.With a gesture, Fiyero caused
the guards behind Maple and Ralph to back away.“What’s your lineage?” he asked Maple in a quiet voice.

Ralph’s eyes nearly bugged out, but
Maple boldly stood forward.“I am Kym
Corbel,” she told him evenly, “daughter of the king.Son of Seyton, son of Natalya, daughter of Lycus, son of
Orestes.”

“Orestes?” Fiyero questioned her.

“Orestes Fleance, my lord,” Maple
replied smoothly.

“Orestes Fleance,” Fiyero repeated,
his eyes lighting up.“My grandfather
used to tell me stories about Orestes Fleance.He was a great battle mage for my great-great-grandfather’s army.”

“Your majesty!” Lachesis cried.

“Princess Kym has a guest
friendship with my family,” Fiyero announced, loud enough for the entire room
to hear.

“Your majesty!” Lachesis called
again.

“For as long as her visit, she is
not to be harmed.Your future king has
spoken.”And all the courtiers wouldn’t
dare to question it.

Lachesis had no objection,
however.“Your majesty, I really must
protest.Do you really think that the
–”

“Good.Now see to it that the princess and her escort are assigned rooms
along with the others.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

The entire time, Fiyero didn’t take
his eyes off of Maple.Now, he took
another step forward, gently taking her hand.“Welcome, Princess Kym,” he told her, leaning down to kiss her
knuckles.“I do hope you’ll enjoy
Galaxia.”

The entire room was shocked and
scandalized.Ralph turned pink, biting
down on his lips to keep from saying anything.Several courtiers within hearing range inhaled sharply.Lachesis’ folded arms dropped down, dangling
uselessly at her sides.Link was forced
to cover his mouth.Everyone waited
nervously, watching Fiyero and his perfect nose to see if it would flare in
anger.The last thing anyone expected
Fiyero to do was exactly what he did.He laughed.“I suppose you
haven’t seen us at our finest,” he chuckled.

“But perhaps,” Fiyero continued, “I
can make amends for our bad first impression.Galaxia is a fine place.”

“Well, everyone deserves a second chance,”
Maple admitted.

“Thank you,” Fiyero told her,
bending down to kiss her hand yet again.“With your permission, I should like to begin making amends right
now.Unless of course you’d like time
to freshen up from the road, change out of your traveling clothing into
something more comfortable.”

“I’m perfectly comfortable,” Maple
replied.

“I should hope so.Well, then, with your permission, I’d most
like to escort you to the royal gardens.The orchids are just beginning to bloom.You’ll love it, I’m quite certain.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she said.

Fiyero took a step back and held
out a fist.Delicately, Maple rested
her palm on top of the fist.“Lachesis,” Fiyero called without taking his eyes off of the woman on
his arm.“Get them rooms prepared.”Grumbling under her breath, Lachesis stormed
out of the throne room.“This way,”
Fiyero said, gesturing grandly as he escorted Maple through the glass doors of
the throne room which let out into the blossoming Galaxian courtyard.

King Corbel was in a good
mood.He lounged on his throne,
luxuriating in the comforts of being king.Before him, his fool performed amusing antics, tossing ladies skirts
into the air from behind them and laughing with joy as he dodged their angry
shrieks and fists.Sitting on the
king’s knee was a beautiful girl, less than half his age, letting out bemused
shrieks as he toyed with her braid.

The door to the throne room burst
open and the captain of the guard came huffing and puffing to the throne
platform.“Yes?” Corbel asked in a
booming, annoyed voice.“What is it?”

“Your majesty,” the captain gasped,
bowing hurriedly.“I have intelligence
of great importance.”

“What is it?” Corbel demanded.

“It’s about Galaxia.”

“What?”

“I’ve just received a report that a
member of the Agave clan has been spotted in Prince Fiyero’s court.”

“What?”Corbel started to lean forward, but the girl gave a shriek of
protestation.“Oh, away with you,” he
said, sending her off on her way.The
king’s attention was completely focused on the captain.“The Agave clan is dead.”

“Not as dead as we thought, sire.”

“Send word to Link immediately,”
Corbel barked.“He must be warned.”

Link angrily slammed Ralph up
against the wall, pinning him there by his shoulders.They were just outside of the throne room and the door had just
closed, sealing them off from the watchful eyes of the courtiers.“Ow!” Ralph shouted in indignation.

“Princess Kym,” Link said, gritting
his teeth in a vain attempt to keep his voice down, “is fourteen years old.”

“She’s an early bloomer!”

“That girl is not Princess
Kym.That is Maple, the witch’s
apprentice!”

“A minor detail,” Ralph mumbled.

“You’re going to give me a good
explanation.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll tell Prince Fiyero that
she’s a fraud and you’re an idiot.”

“And he’ll throw you out of Galaxia
or into the dungeon for lying to him!” Ralph shot back.“Now who’s the idiot?”

Link released Ralph abruptly,
letting him drop down to the floor.“What’s going on Ralph?I
deserve to know.”

Ralph took his good time brushing
off his rumpled tunic before he answered.“I’m on a mission,” he said haughtily.

Fighting the urge to explode, Link
closed his eyes, counted to five then repeated, “A mission.”

Ralph looked from side to side,
although it was very obvious they were alone.“Artifact,” he grunted, keeping his teeth tightly clenched, looking in
the opposite direction.

“What?”

“Artifact.”

Link smacked Ralph on the back of
the head.“Just talk.If someone’s coming, I’ll know.”He gestured to his pointed Hylian ears.“I have super sensitive hearing,” he lied.

“Well, I didn’t know you could do
that.How handy it must be.”Ralph cleared his throat before continuing
in a very important voice.“Nayru has
sent me to retrieve an artifact from Prince Fiyero’s treasury.”

“What artifact?”

“The Amulet of Secrets.”

Link squeezed the bridge of his
nose.“The Amulet of Secrets.”

“Yes.”

“What’s it do?”

“Well, I don’t know exactly, but
what I do know is that, combined with the Harp of Ages and the Rod of Seasons,
it has the power to seal Twinrova out of the realm forever…or the next best
thing.”

“That sounds…”

“Crazy, I know.”

“Actually, in a strange way, it
makes a lot of sense.Why do these
things always come in threes?”

“I don’t know, but Nayru asked me
to get it, so I’m going to get it.”

“Ralph?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s it look like?”

“What?”

“What does the amulet look like?”

“Well…I…I never got around to
asking actually.”

“Great…”

“But I’ll be able to figure it
out.You see, that’s the true
brilliance of the plan.Maple goes to
the ball and distracts everyone so that I can go down to the treasury and snoop
until I find the amulet.”

“How’s Maple going to distract
everyone?”

“Well, I haven’t actually gotten to
that with her yet.”Ralph laughed a
bit.“She thinks she’s just here to
meet a prince.”

“Besides the fact that it’s not
nice to cause trouble at another person’s ball?You made a grave error in claiming to be from Ruatha.Galaxia and Ruatha are on the verge of war!One false step and you two could be killed
and me to boot.”

“All right, all right, no trouble
at the ball.I’ll just slip out after
Maple makes her debut and steal the treasure.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because!”Link had to pause again to compose
himself.“Because,” he went on in a
quiet voice, “the guards are going to be watching your ever step.If you disappear from the throne room,
they’ll immediately follow you and you’ll get caught and there will be a big
mess, ending with you and Maple being killed and me to boot!”

“So how are we supposed to get the
Amulet?”

“I will find a way.”

“Woah, woah, woah!” Ralph shouted,
holding up his hands.“Hit the pause
for a moment there, buddy.”

“What?”

“You are not horning in on my
mission!”

“Oh, for crying out loud!”

“You just want to steal my
glory.You think that maybe Nayru will
start to think you’re better than me.”

“Ralph!I’m not trying to steal your glory!”

“Yes, you are!”

“I’m just trying to keep you and
Maple alive long enough to celebrate while at the same time preventing a war!”

“You stick to your job and I’ll
stick to mine, buddy.”

“Ralph, I promise, when you return
to Labrynna, no one will even know you saw me.Just please, do as I ask you.Don’t cause trouble.There will
be another way to get this accomplished so we’ll both be happy.Understand?”

He folded his arms across his
chest, pouting slightly.“All right.”

At long last, Link managed to
exhale.“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Now, you’d better go to the rooms
they set up for you.Just…wait there
until the ball, all right?”

“Fine.”Ralph turned and started to stalk down the hall.

“Hey, Ralph?” Link called after
him.

Ralph turned around.“What?”

“There’s one thing I’ve got to
know.”

“What?”

“Why Maple?”

“Oh…well…we used to…”

“Oh.”

He frowned.“It’s strange.It was like there was no question about it. It had to be Maple and no one else.”

“That is strange.”

“Tell me about it.”

For once in his life, no one was
paying attention to Fiyero’s nose.As
he and Maple walked through the courtyard, Maple’s eyes darted excitedly from
one thriving plant to another.Fiyero,
for his part, had eyes only for Maple.In all of his days, he could not remember seeing anyone so enthused by
something as trivial as a flower garden.Nevertheless, there she was, pausing every few moments to touch the waxy
petals of an orchid.

As she stopped for the fifth time,
Fiyero chuckled.“Do you have gardens
back home?” he asked.

Maple frowned slightly.“Nothing like this,” she answered.It was true enough.Labrynna, as it was, still had a long way to
go before it fully recovered from the catastrophes that Twinrova had brought
about through Veran.

“Do you like plants?”

“Yes, I mean, they’re not my
favorite thing in the world, but I like them well enough.”

“So do I,” Fiyero said.He glanced up.Looming ahead of them was an enormous tree in full bloom.Emerald green leaves lit up the branches,
each one hanging down with five points.“This might interest you,” Fiyero told her, guiding her over to the base
of the great tree.

“It’s big,” Maple muttered.

“This,” Fiyero announced proudly,
“is a brand new species of tree.Never
before seen in the realm.”

“Really?”

He nodded.“It was a gift to my father.”

“What’s it called?”

Fiyero frowned slightly.“It doesn’t really have a name,” he
sighed.“My father never got around to
naming it.”

“Well, then you’ll have to name
it.”

“I’m not sure I can,” Fiyero
replied.

“Well, you must,” Maple
insisted.“You can’t have a nameless
tree.What will the other trees say
about it?”

It took a few moments for Fiyero to
grapple with what she had just said.When comprehension finally dawned on him, he let out a hearty
chuckle.“I suppose you’re right.The trees do tend to gossip.”

“Well, not the trees themselves,”
Maple corrected him with a playful smile.

“Not the trees?”

“The wood nymphs inside of the trees.”

“Wood nymphs!How foolish of me.”

“If you listen very carefully, you
can hear them right now,” she said, closing her eyes.

Fiyero watched her in pure
admiration, a silly grin on his face.“What are they talking about?”

“Old family tales,” Maple answered.“The matron, Grandmother Andromache is
telling her grandchildren stories of the woods.”

“What are the grandchildren named?”

“Lurian, Calonice, and Sosias.”

“You are remarkable.”

Maple opened her eyes, looking at
him in surprise.“What?”

“The way you see tales in the air,
drawing out invisible strings and weaving them together.I’ve never seen anyone do anything like
that.”

She shrugged.“I just think made up histories are better
than what’s really happening.”

“The world isn’t quite filled with
happy endings, is it?”

“No.”

“Such as the troubles between our
two kingdoms.”

“I must confess, I have no idea
what’s going on.”

Taking her arm, Fiyero led her to
an iron wrought bench on the side of the cobblestone path, beneath the shade of
the great, nameless tree.As Maple sat,
Fiyero propped his foot up on the bench near her, gesturing out to the Galaxian
countryside.“Ruatha and Galaxia have
been at a stand off since well before our grandfathers’ time,” he said.

“Yes, but why?”

“You know that Galaxia was once, in
ancient times, divided into clans?”

Maple shook her head.“No.”

“Well, centuries ago, instead of
one unified kingdom, we had small city states, each one inhabited by a
different clan.There were ten clans in
total.The Cilissa, the Baz, the Crito,
the Morn, the Katt, the Ces, the Kostya, the Timore, the Thucy, and the Agave.”

“I see.”

“Well, one day, a great warrior of
the Cilissa, my ancestor, united the clans all under one government.Some of the clans blended together better
than others.The Agave and the Kostya
remained a bit less involved in the social and political scene of Galaxia,
living in the more isolated border towns.”

“By the sea?”

“Yes.And years ago, a Ruathan fleet, heading home after a war with
Pyrnne, weighed anchor right off our shores.A small team landed to barter for supplies, but the Agave living in the
town mistook them for an attack.They
killed all of them and the Ruathan fleet still at sea retaliated and burned the
town to ashes.There were practically
no survivors.”

“That’s horrible!”

“My grandfather had no desire to
start a war over it, especially considering the fact that the Agave had struck
first.He signed a pact with your
grandfather in which they each agreed to refrain from any act of revenge for
forty five years.”

“Why forty five years?”

He shrugged.“I suppose, they both knew they wouldn’t be
around by that time to deal with the mess of waging a war.Anyway, the pact was sealed with a spell
from the last remaining Agave.The
Agave, you see, were our magicians.Ever since the last Agave died out, there’s been no more magic in
Galaxia.”

“What distinguishes one clan from
another?”

Fiyero pulled aside the left half
of his leather vest.On the firm muscle
of his shoulder, right near the sleeve of his tunic, there was a faint marking,
a sun with a crescent pointing down, directly in the middle.“This is the mark of my clan,” he explained,
pulling the vest back up into place.“Each clan has a separate mark which gives them, in theory, the special
ability of the clan.”

“In theory?”

“The clan powers have long ago died
out.Some people think they were only a
myth to begin with.”

“What’s the power of the Cilissa?”

“According to the ancient texts,
the Cilissa are supposed to be endowed with the strength of ten.”

“Well, you certainly look strong,”
Maple said.And then, she did the
unthinkable and reached out, squeezing his bicep lightly.

This breach in etiquette absolutely
floored Fiyero.He found it perfectly
charming.“That comes from daily
exercise, not magical genes.”

“Magic is real, you know,” she said
seriously.“And it really does run in
families.”

“Do you believe in it?”

“Yes.”

“Then I have no choice but to
believe as well,” Fiyero declared.“Your word is good enough for me.”He paused, glancing over at the trees.“What are the nymphs saying now?”

Laughing softly, Maple closed her
eyes, tilting her head to one side in a gesture of listening.“Mala is talking about the sea nymph that’s
just set up in the pond.”

“Mala?That’s a new one.”

“Well, the new nymph had never
before met a nicer neighbor.”

Fiyero let out a hearty
chuckle.“Come, my lady,” he said,
offering her his arm again.“The day
grows late; I must get you back to your escort so you can prepare for the ball
tonight.”

She opened her eyes and stood up,
lacing her arm around his.“It is
getting a bit dark,” she admitted.

“The time passed too quickly.”

“I hope you don’t feel your time
has been wasted.”

“Not at all,” Fiyero said
firmly.“In fact, much greatness has
come out of this afternoon.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve finally thought of a name for
the tree.”

“What are you going to call it?”

“I’m going to name it after you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, I’ll call it a Kym Tree.”

Maple looked at the enormous tree
with its five pointed leaves.“I hope
the wood nymphs approve,” she said quietly.

“Well, I’m sure they will.Do you approve, Kym?”

She tried to come up with an
answer, but found that she couldn’t.There was no question about it, she liked Fiyero.And in liking him, she found herself feeling
more and guiltier about the web of lies Ralph and Link had spun about her
identity.She knew, of course, that she
couldn’t spill the beans.That would
only get her in trouble and Ralph mad at her.All the same, the weight of the lie dropped heavily upon her as Fiyero,
doting on the girl, made the gesture of naming a tree after her.The Kym Tree was nothing but a lie.

Phillia and Jason were engaged in a
passionate kiss when the door to Phillia’s room burst open with a crack.Both of them were so horrified, they fell
apart in opposite directions, Phillia hitting the back of her skull against the
wall, Jason’s head falling underneath the bed’s dust ruffle.They both heard an extremely irritated sigh
from the door way.“What are you two
doing?” Lachesis demanded wearily.

“Nothing,” Phillia chirped quickly.

“Nothing,” came Jason’s muffled
voice from beneath the bed.

“Don’t play me for a fool,”
Lachesis snapped.She pointed a
perfectly manicured finger at Phillia.“You’re not even dressed yet.”

Lachesis, herself, was dressed to
kill for the ball.Her long black hair
was piled up on top of her head in an elaborate style of woven braids.One long curl fell down her left temple,
over her impeccably smooth skin.Her
gown was elegant for its simplicity, a black satin bustier over a deep, dark
midnight blue hoopskirt.The finishing
touches were what truly set Lachesis apart.Around her throat was a sparkling diamond choker, made up of so many
diamonds that her skin lit up light the moon.A silk shawl, studded with bright stones was meticulously draped over
her shoulders.Long gloves climbed up
her arms, ending around her biceps with fancy diamond arm bracelets.Dangling diamond earrings, shaped like
stars, hung from her ears.

“Put on the pink dress, get
yourself ready for the ball,” Lachesis instructed her sister.

“Yes, Lachesis,” Phillia chorused
sadly, getting to her feet.

“Phillia,” Lachesis sighed,
crossing over to her sister and taking her shoulders.“You needn’t act like that.”

“Like what?”

“As if I’m giving you a life
sentence in the dungeon.”

“It feels that way,” Phillia said
with a pout.

“There will be time enough for
dalliances after you’re made queen,” Lachesis told her reassuringly.“Now get dressed.”

“Yes, Lachesis,” Phillia said
quietly, walking to her closet.

“Jason,” Lachesis snapped, dropping
her sweet tone of voice.

“Yes?” came the muffled reply.

“Get up.”

Obediently, Jason sat up, cracking
his forehead on the bed frame.Lachesis
rolled her eyes, a longsuffering sigh escaping her lips.Muttering to himself, Jason corrected his error
and sat up, rubbing the red spot on his head.Without a word, Lachesis gestured sharply to the door.Jason scrambled to his feet and, prodded by
Lachesis, hurried out of the room, throwing one last longing glance at the
beauteous Phillia before Lachesis shut the door and separated them.

“Come with me,” Lachesis instructed
him.

“Where are we going?”

“Follow me,” was the only answer he
received.Lachesis led him through the
crowded hallways of the castle, passing dozens of foreign dignitaries with
their respective princesses as they prepared to depart for the ballroom.Jason was quite certain none of these paltry
ladies were even close to Phillia in beauty.

Winding around the twisted iron
staircases, Lachesis drew Jason deeper and deeper into the core of the
castle.“Lachesis,” he called.

“Be silent,” she snapped.

“But Lachesis –”

“Wait until we get there.”

“But where are we going?” he
blurted out before she could silence him for a third time.

“The dungeon.”

Jason stopped in his tracks.“The dungeon?”

She took a few more steps before
realizing he had stopped.Irritated,
she turned around to face him.“The
dungeon.”

“But why?”

“There’s less of a chance of us
being overheard down there.”

“I don’t like it when we have
conversations that can’t be overheard, Lachesis,” he muttered.

“This will be the last one, I
promise.Now hurry.”

Begrudgingly, Jason allowed her to
continue leading him through the labyrinth of corridors leading to the dungeon.The dungeon itself was rarely used.Occasionally, extremely dangerous prisoners,
thought too unsafe for local jails were kept there, but for the most part, the
Galaxian dungeon was a throwback to the old days.And Lachesis knew well enough it had been completely emptied in
order to put at ease the troubled monarchs sending off their daughters to vie
for Fiyero’s hand.

“All right,” Jason said, watching
as Lachesis walked down the hallway, looking into each cell to be certain it
was empty.“We’re here.What’s going on?”

“I’m afraid,” Lachesis said
bitterly, “that our plan is in peril.”

“I figured that when you told
Phillia to prepare for the ball.”

“That was only our first
trouble:When that irritating Hylian
showed up to prevent Fiyero from declaring war on Ruatha.”

“There’s an irritating Hylian in
court?”

“Yes, but enough about him.We have a new problem.”

“What?”

“It appears,” Lachesis said
tightly, “that King Corbel has sent his own daughter to our little ball.”

“I guess that makes things harder,”
Jason sighed, trying his hardest to sound interested in what she was saying.

Lachesis ran her finger along the
bars of the nearest cell.“It wouldn’t,
except the foolish prince actually seems taken with the girl.”

“Listen, Lachesis,” Jason said in
exasperation.“Maybe we should just let
this whole thing go.I think the gods
are trying to tell us something.Clearly, the war with Ruatha just isn’t meant to be.”

“Let it go?” Lachesis repeated, her
voice dropping to a low, very dangerous tone.“Let it go.”

Jason sighed.He knew perfectly well that he had made a
mistake and that now Lachesis would launch into another one of her passionate
speeches about how the war with Ruatha was the only course of action.Fed up with this old speech, which he could
now recite by heart, Jason beat her to the punch.“I know, I know, it’s a matter of honor, a matter of pride.”

“It is more than that,” Lachesis
snapped.“The blood of our ancestors
cries out for vengeance.”

“Yes, yes, yes, and the spirits of
the dead will not rest until we put their murderers to rest.I know how it goes.”

“Do not mock me.”

“I’m not mocking you!But Lachesis, the plan keeps going
awry.How much are you willing to
sacrifice?”

“I would sacrifice everything!”
Lachesis roared.To Jason’s horror, her
dark almond shaped eyes suddenly lit up, glowing bright green in the darkness
for a split second before returning to normal.He felt his heart leap up into his throat.Of course, he had known Lachesis was meddling with some dark forces
she should have left well enough alone, but he hadn’t realized how far it had
gone.

“What do you want me to do?” he
asked quietly.

“I’ve decided to switch to another
contingency plan,” she said.“I’ve
hired some assassins to take out our beloved prince tonight.”

“Assassins.”

“I think I’ll sick them on the
Hylian too, just for good measure.It
was he that first mucked up our plans.”

“Do you expect me to help them?”

Lachesis laughed.It was not a mirthful laugh, like her
sister’s, but a dark, cold laugh.“Of
course not.They won’t need help from
an idiot.Your job will be to plant
evidence.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re going to leave their
contract in the room of our Ruathan guests.When the prince is regrettably killed without an heir, I’ll take the
throne and have the knights find this juicy bit of evidence.The princess and her escort will be killed
on the spot and war will be declared on Ruatha.Vengeance will be ours.”

“There you are!” Ralph cried as the
door opened and Maple walked into the guest apartments.“I was starting to get worried.”

Maple laughed, giving him a goofy
grin as she closed the door.She threw
her arms out, twirling in a circle of ecstasy.“You were right Ralph!”

“I was?Of course I was right!”Ralph paused a moment and frowned.“What was I right about?”

“Prince Fiyero, you told me to give
him half a chance and I did and he’s wonderful!He’s better than that.He’s simply marvelous!”

“It’s just us, Maple, you can drop
the big words.”

She floated over to the
window.Much to her delight, it
overlooked the courtyard.Sighing with
content, she gazed down at the pretty orchids and the high woods, home to the
wood nymphs she and Fiyero had created together.This was better than stories about the dusty old family tapestry
back home, and at last, she had someone to make up stories with.Down there, she saw their tree, the
bountiful Kym Tree.“Ralph…” she
whispered gently.

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to come clean.”

“What?”

“I’m going to tell Fiyero the
truth.”

Red alert sirens went off in the
back of Ralph’s head.“What?You can’t do that!”

“I have to be honest with him,”
Maple insisted, turning around to face him.“I’m not going to lie any more.”

“But Maple, if you tell him the
truth then you can’t marry him.Prince
Fiyero has to marry a princess.”

“If he cares for me the same way I
care for him then it won’t matter.Love
is above the law.”

“Love?Maple, don’t you think you’re rushing things a bit?”

“I thought I was at first,” she
told him in a dreamy voice that in all their years, he had never before heard
her use.“But as we were walking, I
realized that we have so much in common.He doesn’t laugh at me about making up stories or believing in magic.”

“Maple, you can’t come clean.”As she was opening her mouth to object,
Ralph held up a hand quickly, “Not yet.”

“When?”

“When…”Ralph began pacing the room, nervously tapping his knuckles
against his palm.

She stomped her foot on the ground
impatiently.“When?”

“Tomorrow!” Ralph blurted out.

“Tomorrow.”Maple mulled this over for a moment.She seemed to decide it was acceptable,
because she slowly nodded her head.“All right,” she declared, “I’ll tell him tomorrow.”

“Good,” Ralph said, allowing a sigh
of relief to escape.“For now, we
should finish up with your final lesson.”

“What’s that?”

“Dancing.”

“Dancing.”

“Well, of course dancing,” Ralph
chuckled.“It’s a ball.What did you think you were going to do?”

“Well, I…”

“Come over here.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to teach you how to
dance.”

She looked at him, a bit
incredulous.“You know how to dance?”
she asked in a skeptical tone.

“Do I know how to dance?Of course I know how to dance!Now come over here, Maple.”

Maple crossed over to Ralph.As she did, he noticed that she delicately
lifted her skirt off the floor a bit, the way they had seen some of the
courtier ladies do so earlier in the day.“All right, teach me.”

Ralph’s mind raced.In truth, he wasn’t much of a dancer at
all.Oh, to be certain, he attended
some formals and festivals alike, but as far as the dancing went, he was more of
an observer, offering words of great encouragement from the sidelines.“Well,” he stumbled, “the key to dancing is
eye contact.”

“Eye contact?”

“Well, you have to anticipate your
partner’s next move.Now for me, the
man, it’s easy.I get to lead.Your task is to try and follow, doing the
exact opposite while wearing ridiculously high shoes.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.That’s just the way it is.”

“How do we begin?”

“The general custom is to bow and
curtsy.”Maple started to bend
over.“No, no, no,” Ralph chuckled,
catching her shoulders and straightening her up again.“I’ll bow.”With great humility, Ralph stooped in a low bow to her.“And you’ll curtsy.”

“Like this?” she asked, gathering
her skirt in her hands.Maple lowered
herself, performing a remarkably graceful curtsy for such a clumsy, awkward
girl.

“Just like that,” Ralph told her as
she straightened out again.

“And now what?”

“And now…”Ralph slowly reached out his hands.He placed his right hand on her side, his
fingers just gracing her back.With his
other hand, he took hers.“Put your
hand on my shoulder.”She obeyed.Ralph leaned down a little bit, taking up
part of her skirt in his left fingers.

“Now what?”

“Now, we start dancing.”Without another word, Ralph began to move in
sudden, jerky motions across the floor, doing his best to lead Maple in a
waltz.Maple followed along perfectly,
though she replicated his mistakes as if they were a part of the dance.Still, at least they were in sync.

“Is this all there is to it?It’s quite easy.”

“No, this is just the beginning,”
he answered, his mind racing back to every last formal dance he had ever
attended.

“What’s next?”

“Now we start with the fancy
stuff.”

“Fancy stuff?”

To demonstrate, Ralph suddenly let
go with one hand.He spun Maple around
in a circle, her dress flaring out then roped her back into his arms.“Fancy stuff.”

“I see.”

“Try this one.”Ralph stopped mid-step and transferred all
his weight to his right foot.He dipped
Maple back, so far that her turban nearly touched the floor before he managed
to pull her back up and return to the basic steps.

“You’re not keeping your own rule.”

“What?”

“Eye contact.”

“Oops.”Ralph locked gazes with Maple.As he did so, a funny memory flashed through his mind.He raced back to when their courtship had
first begun, years ago.For some reason,
he wasn’t certain why, he remembered the silliest little ritual they used to
follow.He would slip little knick
knacks into her pockets, useless things really, gasha seeds and plastic rings
and other toys.Now, as he led her in a
dance she was to dance for another man, he wondered why he should think of
something so silly, so trivial, at a time like this.

There was a knock on the door.Ralph gestured for Maple to respond.“Who is it?” she asked.

“One hour to the ball, princess,” a
page called from the other side of the door.“One hour to the ball.”

“One hour, thank you!” she shouted
back brightly.Suddenly, she stopped
dancing and all the color drained from her face.“One hour!!Ralph, what
do I do?I need to get dressed!”

“Relax, relax,” he told her
evenly.“I’ve put all of the things
you’ll need in the adjoining room.Just
go put it on.Oh, and take off that
turban.”

“Take off the turban?”

“Give that hair of yours a good
brush.That should do the trick.”

“All right.”She leaned forward and gave him a big kiss
on the cheek.“Thank you, Ralph!”

With that, she darted out of the
room, closing the door behind her.Ralph stood still, watching the door.Almost unconsciously, at first, he touched his cheek.His panic from Maple announcing she wanted
to come clean hadn’t died down.He knew
what it meant:He would have to get the
Amulet tonight.Of course, Link would
be on his case, but Ralph had it all worked out.

After putting in an appearance at
the ball to watch Maple’s debut and make sure that Link saw him, Ralph would
merely slip out the servants’ entrance and make his way to the treasury.He would swipe the Amulet, bring it back to
the room, and return to the ball.Assuming he was able to recognize the Amulet right away, it couldn’t possibly
take more than half an hour.With any
luck, Link wouldn’t even notice his absence, and if he did, Ralph would merely
laugh and ask if Link really thought it possible to steal a priceless artifact
and return in half an hour’s time.Yes,
Ralph was fairly pleased with himself.It was a good plan, nay, a perfect plan.Little did he know that his perfect plan would unravel due to his
own dealings.

Link felt more than a little funny,
walking down the halls in ball garments.Galaxian attire was somewhat different from what Hylians wore to such
formal occasions.The fact of the
matter was that Link almost felt naked without his sword and it didn’t help
that his shirt exposed so much of his chest.He felt as though he were wearing a vest instead of a tunic.The laces were practically at his bellybutton.Oh well, he supposed, he would just have to
honor the customs of these people.It
was the proper and the polite thing to do.

As he passed down the corridor, he
noticed some of the foreign princesses lined up to enter the throne room paying
him more attention than he was comfortable with.Several girls waved coyly, calling out to him.Of course, beautiful though they were, they
paled in comparison to the Hylian monarchy.Again, Link felt the wistful longings for home that had been plaguing
him ever since he first awoke to the music of Din’s band in Holodrum.

“Soon,” he whispered to
himself.“Soon.”

By this point, he had arrived at
the entrance to the throne room.The
doors were closed and barred, several burly knights standing before them with
their arms folded across their barrel sized chests.“The throne room isn’t open to guests yet, Hylian,” one of the
guards told him.

“My name is Link,” he said hotly.

“Whatever, Ruatha sympathizer,” the
guard snarled.

Link had two choices.He could engage, or he could just walk
away.If he had been carrying his
sword, perhaps he might have been tempted to engage.Seeing Ralph had put in him a foul mood.But, as his sword was far away and he was
grossly outnumbered, Link chose the latter option.Heatedly, he turned on heel and marched away.He supposed he would go back to his room and
wait for the ball to begin, as he had no desire to be the object of these
princesses’ amorous gazes.

By this point, Link had the gist of
the castle.When he had first arrived,
he had longed for a map and compass to guide him, but Link fancied himself
reasonably good at navigating after all he had been through.He marched down the hall, his boots pounding
the floor a bit harder than usual.He
didn’t like this fancy boots, not at all.They were too difficult to walk in.Suppose he had to move quickly?

Violently, Link shook his
head.He was too accustomed to bloodshed.This was a social event.There would be dancing and the only punch he
had to worry about was the kind the people drank.Scolding himself thus, Link turned the corner and nearly toppled
over a jittery looking man walking in the opposite direction.“Oh!” Link cried, reaching out to steady the
teetering man.“I’m terribly sorry.”

“Oh my…” the nervous man
mumbled.“You’re the Hylian.I heard there was a Hylian around here.”

“My name is Link,” Link repeated.

“Link?The Hero of Holodrum?”

Link rubbed the back of his
neck.“Well…”

“My name is Jason,” the other man
replied, reaching out to pump Link’s hand heartily.

Some surprise registered on Link’s
face.He hadn’t been expecting a
fan.“Nice to meet you, Jason.”

“It’s an honor, sir, truly and
honor.”

“Thanks.”

“It is true that you’ve vanquished
eighteen monsters?”

“Well, I’ve fought a lot of
monsters really.Eighteen of them were
really hard, I guess.”

“The high minister.”Jason looked both ways again before grabbing
Link’s arm.“Come with me.”At once, Jason dragged Link down the
hall.Baffled though he was, Link allowed
this.If nothing else, this was
certainly a good, entertaining way to pass the time until the ball
started.Link was all too bemused to
discover that he had soon been pulled into a broom closet.“We’ll be safe here,” Jason whispered.

“Unless the brooms have teeth.”

“Or ears,” Jason said darkly.

Link folded his arms across his
chest.“What do you mean?”

“Listen, I can’t tell you how I
know this.I just know.”

“What is it?”

“There’s going to be trouble.”

“Trouble?”

“Tonight.At the ball.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Jason made a pained
expression.“Because I know you can
stop it.”

“Me?”

“You’re the hero of Holodrum.You killed eighteen monsters.”

“Are you expecting a monster in
formal wear?”

“Well…no.”

“What kind of trouble is it?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Jason, do you want me to stop this
trouble?”Jason nodded miserably.“I can’t stop it unless I know what’s
coming.”

“I know.”

“Then why can’t you tell me?”

“Because she’s put a binding spell
on me.”

“Who?”Jason worked his mouth for a moment, as if he were fighting to
pry his own lips apart.When that
failed, he struck a pose, folding his arms across his chest and popping his hip
to one side.“Lachesis?” Link guessed.

“Yes.”

“A binding spell?How is that possible?There’s no magic in Galaxia, everyone knows
that.”

“I can’t tell you that either.”

“What can you tell me?”

“I’ve pretty much reached my
limit.”

Link scowled.“Could you write it down?The kind of trouble you’re expecting at the
ball, that is.”

“I can’t write in Common.I only know the letters for the old
language.”

“Well, that’s a problem, as I don’t
know your old language, whatever it is.”

“So what do we do?”

“You’re going to have to act it
out.”

“What?”

“Like you did when you wanted to
say ‘Lachesis.’”

“I don’t know if I can do that.”

“You’re going to have to try,” Link
told him firmly.He sat down on an
overturned bucket on the floor.“Now,
what kind of trouble are you expecting?

Jason held up five fingers.

“Five?”

He nodded.Next, he did a pantomime dance with an
invisible partner, getting a little elaborate with his waltz steps.

“That the ball?”

Grinning, Jason touched his
nose.He drew an invisible sword from
his belt, brandishing it above his head.

“Killers?”

Jason shook his head.

“Assassins?”

Clapping his hands, Jason moved
on.Puffing out his chest, he planted
his hands firmly on his hips and lifted his chin into the air, flaring his
nostrils slightly.

“After the prince?”

He nodded again, holding his hand
up with his thumb and forefinger close together.“Small word?” Link licked his lips.“The?It?In?Is?Of?A?With?To?Be?And?”Jason pointed to him.“And!The prince and…?”Jason
continued pointing at him.“Yes, I
know, the word is ‘and.’Who else are
the assassins marking?”Still, Jason
pointed at Link.Slowly, it dawned on
him.“Me?They’re after me?”

“Yes,” Jason managed to get out of
his mouth.

“Why me?”

“You’re in the way,” Jason
explained.“You’re messing things up.”

“I seem to have a knack for that.”

“Can you stop it?”

“Well…” Link ran through several
scenarios, given what he knew about the geography of the ballroom.“I can’t do very much without my sword.And I don’t think they’ll let me bring
it.According to tradition, I think
it’s only the prince who’s allowed to carry a weapon, right?”

Link stood up, slapping his
thighs.“Follow me.I’ll show you where I keep my sword.”

Lachesis had intended to arrive
early at the ball.She was just
departing from her quarters, but something stopped her cold.Against the glass window of her sitting
room, overlooking the front of the castle, she heard a soft ping.Scowling, she made her way to the window and
looked down.Standing below, with a
handful of rocks, she saw a dark figure, meticulously tossing stones up at her
room.Lachesis unlatched the window and
opened it a crack.“Stay down there,”
she hissed.

At once, she shot out of the room,
flying down the hallway as fast as she could while still retaining her
dignity.She hefted her skirts up
slightly, careful to preserve her appearance as much as possible for the
ball.After all, she wanted to look
good when she was tragically crowned queen.The entrance hall, she knew full well, would be completely
deserted.There might be one lonely guard
watching the front door, but that wouldn’t be a problem.She was high minister.

It was no problem getting out onto
the castle grounds.Swiftly, Lachesis
made her way around the high turret of the observation tower.Up ahead, in the distance, she could see a
dark silhouette against the moonlight, staring up at the high walls of the
palace.“Cimon,” she whispered
fiercely.The figure turned to see her
approaching and raised his hand in salute.

When Lachesis got near, she soon
recognized the features of Cimon, bathed in moonlight.His face looked a bit sallow, paler than
before, and there was a large bruise on his left cheek, but other than that, he
was much the same; a gangly, spry fellow with feathery tufts of brown
hair.To be certain, Lachesis had not
anticipated seeing him again.She
managed to hide her shock as she approached, looking him once over before
pulling her arm back and slapping him across the face, making certain to strike
where his bruise was.“Hey!” Cimon shouted, his head
turning sharply to the side.

“Keep your voice down.”

“What was that for?” he asked,
rubbing his face.

“That was for showing your face
here,” she snapped.“What if someone
sees us together?”

“Tonight’s the ball, isn’t it?” he
snipped.“I imagine most of the security
is going to be inside.”

“What are you doing back here?” she
questioned him.“I thought the Ruathans
had captured you.”

“They did,” he grumbled.

“How did you get out?”

“I bribed the guards.”

“Works every time.”

“No thanks to you.”

“I assume you accomplished what I
asked of you.”

“There are barely any wells left in
Ruatha to destroy.”

“Good.”

“I hope your plan is going well.”

“It would be,” Lachesis hissed, “if
the fool King Corbel hadn’t sent his daughter into the middle of this.”

“What?”

“King Corbel’s daughter is
attending the ball tonight.And the
foolish Fiyero seems taken with her.”

“No, she’s not.”

“What?”

“I’ve just come back from
Ruatha.Princess Kym certainly isn’t
attending any courtship balls.”

Lachesis examined his face
closely.“Kym Corbel was just announced
this morning.The Hylian who came from
Ruatha –”

“Link…” Cimon growled, the memory
of Link’s Ruathan trap still very fresh in his mind.

“Link vouched for the girl
himself.”

“Well, Link was obviously
bluffing.Again.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Lachesis, I swear to you, Princess
Kym Corbel is safely nestled at home with her father and her nurse.”

“Her nurse?”

“She’s fourteen years old!”

“Well…this is unexpected.”

“Whoever is in there is obviously a
fraud.”

“So it would seem.”

Cimon puffed out his chest a little
bit.“So?” he asked with a cocky edge
to his voice.“Does this please you?”

“He caught me burning the
well.I did like you told me, I told
him I was working under King Corbel’s orders but…he found me out.”

“So you two have a personal history
then?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Unfortunate.”

“Listen, Lachesis,” Cimon
transitioned, tucking his hands into his pockets.“I’ve been pretty good up until this point of not asking too many
questions.But now, after all I been
through, I gotta know.What is your
plan exactly?”

“My plan?”

“Yeah.”

“My plan is frightfully simple,”
she said.

“Tell me.”

“I mean to start a war between
Galaxia and Ruatha.”

“Yeah?What’s in it for you?”

“Plenty, provided I play my part
right.”

“That’s great.I’m happy for you, really.”He looked her dead in the eye.“Now…what’s in it for me?”

“Well, Cimon, I’m glad you asked
that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said, imitating his
provincial accent.

“Why’s that?”

“Well, I certainly don’t want to
leave any loose ends untended to in my plan.And you, Cimon, are an enormous loose end.”

“What do you mean?”

“You did just tell me you had a
history with our Hylian friend, did you not?” she asked.

“I did.”

“Well, suppose he sees us talking
like this again?Don’t you think that
would cause a lot of trouble for the plan?”

“I’ll scream,” he cautioned her.“Who will hear you?Tonight’s the ball, isn’t it?I imagine most of the security is going to
be inside.”

“You can’t do this,” he said,
taking another step back.

“I can,” she stepped forward, “and
I will.”

“No!No!”

“Oh, go ahead, scream.I’ll enjoy it.”

“Help!Help!”

Cimon broke out into a mad sprint,
dashing across the green toward the murky castle moat in the distance.Lachesis laughed, watching him for a few
moments.Her eyes lit up, bright green,
and she lifted her hand.Instantly, a
green ether shot out from her palm, uncoiling like a rope and catching Cimon
around his ankle.She pulled back, the
hapless man sliding across the grass on ethereal strings.In no time at all, the screaming, quivering
mass that was Cimon was at her feet.

“Goodbye, Cimon,” she said gently.

“I was faithful to you!”

“I know,” she told him.“And I’m very grateful for it.”Without another word, she pulled her arm
back and stabbed Cimon in the chest.He
cried out in agony, but soon his shouts turned to pathetic groans and finally
to silence.Lachesis delayed, frozen
there for a minute before brutally yanking her blade out.Mistake!A geyser of blood came shooting out, falling on Lachesis’ dress.She scowled in discontent.Now she would have to change, she’d be late
for the ball.

The throne room glittered and
sparkled, and most of it wasn’t from the guests’ diamonds.In preparation for this ball, the royal
decorators had gone to great lengths to make the room look like a net of a
thousand stars.Celestial objects of
glass hung on invisible fishing line from the ceiling, casting rainbow colored
refractions over the mahogany floor, stained royal purple.Along the sides of the room, silver garlands
were draped across the walls, attached to gold and copper balls, making them
look like the tails of comets.From the
crystal chandelier hung orbs of various metals, some of them ringed, others
just as they were, a mini solar system.

As fantastic as the throne room was
however, it was nothing more than a stop on the way to the ballroom.A doorway opened onto a large staircase,
leading down to the glittering black dance floor, embedded with diamonds and
sapphires, the most incredible display of wealth in the realm, as far as Link
was concerned.He stood in the middle
of the room, watching the staircase as princess after princess was announced by
a pudgy herald and ushered into the ball.

Prince Fiyero stood at the bottom
of the steps on the left side.Even in
formal attire, he had found a way to show off his impressive muscles.He wore a sleeveless white tunic under a
violet vest, both going down to past his knees.Around his waist as a gold sash and a belt with a buckler.Hanging from his neck was an amulet, on one
side emblazoned with the figure of an enormous tree on one side and a tiny
sapling on the other.Tight gray
leggings, padded a bit at the calves, gave way to brown boots, studded with
gold circles around the ankle.

He greeted each princess as she
arrived, bowing politely and kissing her hand before returning it to her
assigned escort.Link observed that he
didn’t really seem to be paying much attention to the girls as they passed his
way.It was as if he weren’t looking
for his bride to be at all, but rather just going through the motions.This caused Link to frown.He was certain that, had he been looking for
a bride, he’d be paying a bit more attention.Then again, Link supposed, this isn’t how he’d met his wife to be.Balls weren’t his style.

“Appetizer?” a voice asked from
behind his right shoulder.Link turned
around and immediately found Jason standing behind him.

“Yes,” Link said, reaching out to
take a treat from the tray Jason was carrying with his left hand.As he did so, he opened his right hand and
suddenly felt the familiar handle of his trusty sword.“Thank you.”

“My pleasure, sir,” Jason answered
with a bow.At once, he turned on heel
and walked away, carrying his tray over to another cluster of partygoers.

Link carefully tucked his sword
into his belt, keeping it tight against his leg so it could only be seen from
one side.He knew, of course, that
there would be trouble if anyone caught him with a weapon, especially since a
lot of the guards clearly took him for a Ruathan sympathizer.Still, considering what Jason had told him,
Link decided it was best to be prepared.He’d rather breech etiquette than die for want of a weapon in a fight.

Ralph entered the ballroom up at
the top of the steps.All guests who
weren’t princesses descended on the left side and so did Ralph, bypassing any
kisses from Fiyero.Link had to admit,
the fellow cleaned up reasonably well.At least his hair wasn’t sticking straight up.This time it was at an angle.“Where’s Maple?” Link asked as Ralph trotted over to his side.

“Getting dressed,” he replied.“Some trouble with a bauble or bangle or
something.”

“Women’s clothing is…”Just then, a woman walked past the duo,
wearing an enormous headpiece of peacock feathers that shot up into the air,
nearly two feet higher than the top of her head.

“Yeah…” Ralph muttered, watching
her pass.

“Listen, Ralph,” Link said
quietly.“I think there’s going to be
trouble tonight.Keep close watch on
Maple.”

“If you mean that prince getting too
fresh with her,” he responded with a laugh, “Well, Maple can hold her own.”

“That’s really not what I –”

“Yes, sir, my Maple is one tough
little –”

“Princess Kym Corbel of Ruatha!”
the herald at the top of the steps shouted loudly.

At once, all eyes were turned to
the entrance.Standing high above the
crowd was Maple, but, Link had to admit he would never have been able to
recognize her had he not been an unwilling coconspirator.She looked completely transformed.The dress was a stunning blue, the color of
the ocean after a storm, with gold fabric lining the top of the bodice.Maple’s long window sleeves were gold as
well, trailing down to the floor.A
gold chain was wrapped around her narrow middle, the excess dangling down the
front of the gown and ending with two balls of blue glass.As for her hair, it wasn’t the knotty,
tangled mess Link remembered from his previous encounters with Maple.Instead, it fell to her shoulders in silky,
dark cascades.

Slowly, with great poise, she made
her way down the stairs.Everyone in
the room was whispering excitedly, staring at this shining girl as if they had
never seen a lady before.Fiyero, on
the bottom of the stairs, crossed to the center and held out his hand for
her.She easily slipped her hand into his
and stepped onto the floor.Fiyero
kissed her knuckles, bowing as he did so.Maple curtsied.Without any
audible exchange, he tucked her arm on top of his and led her out to the dance
floor.

In the very center of the ballroom,
they turned to face each other.Fiyero
slipped his hands into a dancing position as Maple stooped to pick up the hem
of her dress’s train.With a curt nod,
Fiyero signaled the musicians who began to play a lively waltz.Together, the two of them glided across the
floor, under the admiring eyes of all the men and the jealous eyes of all the
women in the room.

Link turned to look at Ralph.His mouth was absolutely gaping open, like a
fish.He stared at Maple, almost
sputtering.“It looks like you’ve
created a monster,” Link joked.

Ralph’s eyes never left the dancing
couple.“Yeah…” he whispered softly,
almost to himself.

“She looks great.”

“Great…”

“Ralph?”Link waved his hand in front of Ralph’s eyes, but they remained
glazed and fixed.

Soon, the dance was ended.Amidst a light spattering of applause,
Fiyero spoke softly to Maple, in words no one else could hear.She smiled at him and answered
something.Fiyero reached to the chain
around his neck and removed the necklace, slipping it over Maple’s head and
gently pulling her hair out from under it.He gestured to the musicians and they prepared to play another song.

Before a single note could be
played, a horrifying shriek filled the room.Link turned to look at the top of the steps, and, as he had expected,
there stood five people, all of them dressed in black, wearing identical masks
which were purple on one side and black on the other.More upsetting than the masks, though, was the fact that all five
of them were brandishing sharp swords, two apiece.The one standing in the middle of the line was clearly the
leader.She let out a sharp screech,
pointing first to Fiyero and then to Link, and at once, the others descended on
the ballroom.

The party guests screamed, toppling
over each other to get out of the path of the four assassins.“Get behind me,” Link heard Fiyero shout,
stepping in front of Maple and drawing his ceremonial sword.

Two of the assassins made their way
for Link.Without thought for
etiquette, Link lifted his sword, charging to meet them in the comfort of his
old, brown boots.When he encountered
the first, he immediately spun around, catching the assassin behind the knees
as he shot past.The confused warrior
let out a yelp of surprise and flipped onto his back, two threads of blood
forming on his legs.Link planted his
foot on the assassin’s chest and turned to his fellow, parrying two thrusts
with his sword.

The assassin on the floor tried to
lift his blade to cut Link’s arm, but Link quickly shifted his weight and
kicked him in the head, knocking him out.As he turned his attention to the second assassin, Ralph came up from
behind and brained him on the head with an appetizer platter.Link guessed that behind the mask, was a
momentary look of shock before the assassin crumpled over.

“Thanks, Ralph!” Link shouted.

“What should I do?”

“Tie them up!”

“Right!”

Link turned to look where the other
two assassins had gone.Fiyero was
engaged with one of them in quite the duel, their blades dancing across the
space like feathers. The second one seemed to be frozen in shock, but when Link
turned to look at Maple, he realized she was whispering quietly while staring
at him.A jinx.Taking advantage of the spellbinding, Link
raced over to the frozen assassin and hit him on the back of the head with his hilt.

“This one too, Ralph!” Link
shouted.

“I got it!”

Next, Link looked up at the top of
the stairs.The lead assassin had not
yet descended.She stood on the railing
of the staircase, watching as the frightened nobility scrambled out of the room
as fast as possible, feathers, sequins, and diamonds flying everywhere.When she saw Link looking up at her, quite
alive and well, she shifted her weight, sliding down the banister as if
surfing.At the end, she flipped in the
air and landed on her feet, her arms out at her sides for balance.Link charged forward, sweeping his sword
from side to side

The assassin met him head on,
clapping her swords together to catch his blade.They grappled like this for a moment before Link pulled back and
kicked her in the face.The mask took
the brunt of the blow, but she released her hold on Link’s sword long enough
for him to get a good, clean cut at her left knee.She clearly hadn’t been expecting this, so she fell off balance,
dropping down to a wounded crouch.Link
pointed his sword at her throat.

Suddenly, and much to Link’s
surprise, the masked stranger grabbed hold of the blade with both her
hands.With a primal grunt, she pulled
it forward, impaling herself.“Hey!”
Link shouted, but it was too late.The
assassin dropped down dead on the floor.Link wouldn’t be able to question her now.

As Link turned around, he saw
Fiyero and his attacker still engaged in combat.Ralph was kneeling at Maple’s feet, tying up another one of the
prone assassins and Maple had her eyes locked on Fiyero.Carefully, holding his sword at the ready,
Link made his way closer and closer to the fight.Fiyero was decent, but he wasn’t on the same level as a
professional.Link could tell that the
assassin would soon have the upper hand.

Right as Link arrived on the scene,
Fiyero’s blade went flying of his hand, clattering to the floor somewhere far
away.Fiyero held up his hands in
surrender and the assassin started to close in on him.Link placed the tip of his sword on the
assassin’s back.“I wouldn’t,” he said
calmly.

Immediately, the assassin dropped
his swords.Fiyero lowered his arms,
looking over at Link.“I owe you my
life, Hylian.”With that, he punched
the assassin in the face, sending him to the floor.

Link shrugged slightly.“Nah.”

By this point, finally, the noisy
sound of armor reached the ballroom.Fiyero’s knights came trooping in, too late for the fray.“Take them away,” Fiyero snapped angrily.

“Yes, my lord,” one of the knights
said.At once, they got to work, hauling
off the surviving assassins.

“They aren’t from Ruatha,” Link
said, trying to cut off any conclusions Fiyero might draw as quickly as
possible.

The prince merely nodded his
acknowledgement.Fiyero turned to
Maple, offering her a hand.“Are you
all right, Princess?” he asked her gently.

Maple nodded.“I’m fine.”

“So much for security around here,”
he said bitterly.

“It’s all right,” Maple assured
him.“We’re all right.”

“Looks like the party’s broken up
though,” Link added.Indeed, the
ballroom had been deserted.All that
remained of the nobility that had been littering the room moments earlier were
various scarves, fans, and pieces of jewelry that had been abandoned in the
panic.

Looking at Maple, Fiyero caressed
her cheek.“Oh, I don’t mind all that
much,” he said.

“No?” she questioned him.

“Not at all.Why would I want to be in a crowded room
with lots of people I don’t know or like when I could spend my time alone with
you?”To Link, that sounded a little
mushy, but Maple seemed to appreciate it.Suddenly, and much to everyone’s surprise, Fiyero leaned forward, taking
her face in his hands, and kissed her.

There was screaming in the
hallway.Phillia stood in the darkest
corner of her bedroom, listening to the panic outside of her door.She had absolutely no idea what was going
on, true, but somehow, she knew it absolutely had to be connected to her older
sister.Lachesis was many things.Subtle was not among them.Nervously, Phillia twisted a curl in her
fingers.Perhaps, she supposed hopefully,
this meant that she wouldn’t have to attend the ball after all.

Uneasily, she crossed over to the
narrow window, overlooking the front of the castle.As she peered out, she could see dozens of regal figures
streaming out of the front gate, rushing over the lowered draw bridge.Already, several coaches had appeared, the
horses galloping at a frantic pace.Phillia leaned closer.Princesses were wrestling each other out of the way to board and take
off, no thought left for luggage or their escorts.Everyone seemed in a great hurry to get far away from the castle.

Phillia turned away from the
scene.There was nothing like a moment
of panic to show a person’s true colors.How disgusting people could be!Sighing, she walked over to her vanity.Lachesis had left her all sorts of silly creams and rogues that
princesses were expected to wear.Frankly, Phillia was loath to put them on as she had no idea how they
were supposed to be used.What a silly
game this was, hunting royalty like a prize bull.

A knock came at the door.“Who is it?” she asked wearily.

“It’s me,” came Jason’s voice from
the other side.

“Come in!” she hissed excitedly,
rushing over to the door and pulling the latch back.

Jason came running into the room,
flying right past Phillia who held the door.He looked around in great confusion, seeing an empty room in front of
him.“Phillia?” he muttered in
confusion.

Behind him, Phillia shut the
door.“Over here.”

Jason yelped and turned around,
looking surprised.“Oh!”He took a few steps in her direction before
stopping cold, frozen in place.

“What?”

“Y-you…”

“What’s the matter?”

“Phillia, you look beautiful.”

“Do I?”And she did indeed.Phillia’s older sister may have been of horrible intentions most of the
time, but she did have excellent taste when it came to choosing gowns for her
little sister.Phillia looked
absolutely stunning in the pink dress, the empire waistline and cap sleeves
lined with gold lace.Half of her
golden curls were pulled back behind her head with a satin ribbon.On top of her head was a wreath of leaves
hammered out of gold.

“Uh huh…” Jason grunted with a nod.

“Thank you.”Phillia frowned, looking over her shoulder
at the door, closing them off from the noisy hallway.“What’s going on?”

“The ball was attacked by
assassins,” Jason explained.

“Lachesis!” Phillia cried angrily.

“Don’t worry, everyone’s all
right.At least…I think everyone’s
going to be all right.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because…” Jason shifted his weight
nervously from one foot to the other.“Because I told someone.”

“You what?!?”

“I told someone about Lachesis’
plan.”

“Oh, Jason!”

“I know, I know.”

“How could you do a foolish thing
like that?”

“I did what I had to do!” he
declared firmly.

“Who did you tell?”

“The Hylian.”

“The Hylian?”

“Lachesis wanted him dead too, and
I couldn’t let her do that.He’s the
great hero we’ve heard about.”

“Link?”

“Yes.”

“Wow…Link is in our castle.”

“Yes.”

“And my sister wanted him
dead.”Phillia scowled.“Jason, you did the right thing…”

“But…?”

“Oh, Jason!”She surged forward, flinging her arms around
him.“How I fear for you now!”

“What do you mean?”

“Lachesis will find out.”

“She won’t.”

“You know she will.She has eyes everywhere and she’s
smart.She’ll figure out that you were
the one to tip off the Hylian.”

“She won’t find out.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because, I’m not going to be here
to know one way or the other.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m leaving.”

“Leaving?”

“Yes.And you’re coming with me.”

Phillia blinked.“What?”

“Come with me, Phillia.”

“Jason, I…”

He shook his head.“I’m doing this all wrong.”

“What?”

At once, Jason stepped out of her
embrace and took a knee in front of her.He gently clasped her hand in both of his, kissing her knuckles.“Phillia, will you marry me?”

“We’ve had this conversation
before, Jason.I told you, there’s no
way we could ever do it.”

“Are you going to live in fear of
your sister for the rest of your life?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Jason!”

Jason rose to his feet.“You are going to marry me.And we are going to be very happy, living
someplace far away with our family.”

Phillia looked at him for a moment,
a silly grin appearing on her face.“Family?” she asked coyly.

“Family.”He kissed her gently.“So?Will you?”

She looked at him fondly.“I will, Jason.

“Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll send for
you after I’ve made all the arrangements,” he told her.

“Be careful to stay out of
Lachesis’ sight until then, my love.”

“I’ll do the best I can.”For a second time, they kissed.They had no trinkets to exchange, no vows or
tokens, only each other.But that was
all they needed, for the mark of true love isn’t gold or diamonds, but rather
devotion, something Jason and Phillia possessed in great abundance.

When Link knocked on the door, he
didn’t expect to be greeted by silence.He wasn’t surprised, only disappointed.Deciding to give Ralph the benefit of the doubt, he knocked again,
louder this time.Again, there was no
response.Surely, he could afford Ralph
one last chance.“Ralph!” he called
into the door.Nothing.

Sighing, Link pulled back his leg
and kicked the door in.The fancy
hinges may have been beautiful, but they weren’t terribly strong and at once,
the door fell over, hitting the ground with a satisfying smack.At any other time, the noise might have called
half a dozen palace guards running, but the night had been so hectic that no
one seemed to notice.Any guards that
were still left in the castle were busy helping the remaining royal escorts to
remove their princesses’ personal belongings.Not a single guest, save for the “Ruathan delegation” desired to remain
in the dangerous castle a moment longer.

Link took half a step over the
fallen doorway when he realized that, against his sinking suspicion, Ralph was
indeed in the room.He sat on the side
of his bed, knees splayed, his hands resting on top of them.His face was down, looking at the expensive
carpeting, yet not really looking at it at all.Ralph hadn’t changed out of his ball attire, but he looked more
rumpled and baggy than in his regular clothing to which Link was
accustomed.Strangely, he showed
absolutely no response to his door being broken down.

“Ralph?” Link asked hesitantly.

He must have known, now, that he
could no longer ignore his summons.“Yeah?” he responded absently.

“What are you doing?”

“Sitting.”

“Sorry about the door.”

“I don’t have to pay for it.”

“Why didn’t you answer?”

“Hmmm,” Ralph grunted,
noncommittally.

“Is everything all right?”Carefully, Link stepped over the door.He leaned down to pick it up, resting it
against the doorframe.

A small, dry laugh escaped from
Ralph’s lips.“That’s a really good
question,” he deadpanned.

Link glanced over his shoulder at
Ralph.Once he was certain that the
door wouldn’t slide down, he walked over to the bed.“Shaken up by the assassination attempt?”

“No.”

“You fought well,” Link coaxed him.

“Of course I fought well.I always fight well.”

Link decided not to contradict that
statement.“I can’t help you unless I
know what’s wrong.”

“Who said I wanted your help?”

“You haven’t thrown me out yet.”

“Maybe I should.”

“Go ahead.”But Ralph didn’t.Boldly, Link sat on the foot of the bed, watching the troubled
man.“Well?”

“It’s…”

“What?”

“The ball.”

“The ball?”

“What happened at the ball.”

“But I thought you just said the
assassination attempt didn’t scare you,” Link scoffed.

Link frowned, turning this over in
his mind.All at once, like a blinding
flash, it hit him.“Oh…” he said
softly.And the more he thought about
it, the more it made sense.Ralph had
seemed rather transfixed by Maple once she made her grand entrance.In fact, Link couldn’t remember Ralph ever
stopping in mid-sentence before, but tonight he had when he saw Maple.

“I thought I could.She didn’t understand, I told myself.I guess she was right after all.”

“Is that what you remembered?”

“It’s funny.Usually, when I think about my relationship
with Maple, I think about the end, when it was at its worst.But tonight, when I saw her like that, my
mind went back to the beginning, when it was at its best.”

“Yeah?”

“I remembered the first time I told
her that I loved her.We weren’t doing
anything particularly special.Just
walking.And suddenly, I realized that
I loved her, so I blurted it out.Just
like that.”

Link chucked softly.“Sounds fun.”

“It wasn’t very romantic.”

“Didn’t have to be.”

“No.Not with Maple.”

“So?”

“Seeing her tonight just made me
think of it, that’s all.”

“Well, Ralph,” Link said slowly, “I
don’t know a lot about this sort of thing, I’m better at slaying monsters, but
maybe, just maybe, some of those feelings for Maple are still unresolved.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe you still love her.”

“Of course I do!” Ralph blurted out
before he even realized what he was saying.He sat up, looking bewildered.“I still love Maple,” he repeated again, more to himself than to Link.

“Well then?”

“There’s nothing to be done about
it.”

“Why not?”

“She’s with that Fiyero guy
now.And he seems to really like her.”

“I think you should tell her.”

“Why?”

“Well, suppose she still has
feelings for you?”

“I don’t see why she would.I was a complete louse.”

“I’m not questioning that.But, if you don’t say something to her, you
could end up regretting it for the rest of your life.”

“Regretting it?”

“Wondering whether or not she feels
that way for you.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“I’ll let you think about it.”Link stood up and started for the door.

“Wait, wait a second.Why did you come here in the first place?”

“I thought you were going to try
and steal the Amulet in the confusion.”

Ralph slapped his hand to his
forehead.Why hadn’t he thought of
that?As Link left the room, he
supposed, deep down, he knew exactly why he hadn’t done like Link suggested and
stolen the Amulet in the confusion.He
had been too concerned about Maple.For
the first time in his recollection, Ralph had chosen Maple over his duty to
Nayru.

Maple felt giddy when she woke the
next morning.Images of the night swam
happily before her eyes as she lay in bed, staring up at the beautifully
painted mural of wildlife on the ceiling above her.She touched her hands to her face, running her fingers over the
silly smile.Of course, it was wrong to
be so contented after the great panic, but she simply couldn’t help it.Their loss was just her good fortune and
because they had fled in such a panic over some silly little assassins, she had
been granted an entire evening alone with Fiyero.

She slid out of bed and quickly
dressed in yet another one of the gowns Ralph had procured for her.This one was fairly basic, a red peplos
chiton clipped together by gold pins.There was a gold net which she threw over her hair, though several wispy
strands escaped.Maple still had to
accustom herself to this sleek, smooth texture; she was used to the
gnarls.For a finishing touch, Maple
threw the amulet Fiyero had given her around her neck.

When she left her apartment, she
noticed that the door to Ralph’s room was shut.She paused briefly to knock, but there was no reply on the other
side.Shrugging, she decided to let
Ralph sleep and started on her way down the hall through the main door which
had mysteriously broken off of its hinges last night.The castle had grown quite empty with the severe decrease in
royal guests.Maple made the walk to
the throne room more or less alone with her thoughts.And they were certainly enough to keep her company.

In some ways, Maple couldn’t
believe she had only met Fiyero yesterday.In her heart and her soul, she felt as if she had known him all her
life.All last night, they had walked
together, making up stories about the fictional wood nymphs living in the
courtyard. A pang of guilt stung at
Maple as she remembered the tree Fiyero had named after her.The tree he thought he had named after
her.Maple was determined to come clean
today.It was the right thing to do.

The doors to the throne room were
wide open.Lifting her skirt a bit,
Maple crossed over the threshold.She
expected to be greeted by a herald or page, anxious to announce her to the
room, but much to her surprise, there was no one by the door except for two
knights, honor guards, she assumed, each holding a large pike.This was nothing shocking, but as Maple
gazed across the throne room, a new sight blazed in her eyes.Sitting in Fiyero’s throne, looking very
much at home there, was Lachesis.Her
hands rested lightly on the armrests and she glared condemningly across the
room at little Maple.

“Good morning,” she said quietly.

“That is not your throne,” Maple
replied fiercely, balling her hands up into fists at her sides.

“No!” Lachesis shouted, rising
swiftly to her feet and crossing the room halfway to Maple.“How dare you!Do you take us Galaxians for fools?”

“No.”

“Liar!”

“Stop it!”

“Guards!” Lachesis snapped,
pointing to Maple.“Seize her!”

Immediately, the guards flanking
the door behind Maple sprang to life, both of them pointing their spears
directly at her back.Maple whirled
around angrily.“Lay down your
weapons,” she ordered them, conjuring up the most authoritative voice she
could.

“Do nothing she tells you,”
Lachesis barked.

“Please cooperate,” one of the
guards said.

“We don’t want to hurt you,” the
other added.

“I know,” Maple said quietly.And with that, she flicked her wrist and
both of the pikes turned into enormous green snakes.

The guards cried out in shock and
fear, both of them dropping the snakes which immediately slithered across the
room, vanishing into the shadows cast by the early morning sun.“Witch!” Lachesis screamed.This cry brought several more guards
running.They filled up the doorway,
all of them staring at Maple in fear.“Don’t just stand there!Arrest
her.”

Not a guard moved.All of them stood there, watching Maple,
clearly afraid to get too close.Inwardly, Maple sighed.All
right, they wanted a witch; she’d give them a witch.Twirling her hands around each other, she began to chant
quietly.“Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen…”

“Eleka!” Maple declared.At once, all of their weapons turned into
serpents, slithering and sliding around their bodies before disappearing the
same way the first two had gone.

“How dare you make a mockery of
this castle!” Lachesis screamed.

“Who’s making a mockery of this
castle?”The guards around the door
quickly parted, stepping back to allow Fiyero to enter.“What is going on in here?Haven’t we had enough excitement?”In his mind, a horrible image was
flashing.They had found a man outside
the front of the castle who had literally been trampled to death, it seemed, in
all the chaos.

“Your majesty,” Lachesis said,
marching over to the crowded scene.“I
charge that she is a witch!”

“The princess?” Fiyero repeated
incredulously.“Are you mad?”

“She’s no princess.She’s a fraud.”

“What?Lachesis, you’ve gone daffy.”Fiyero turned to look at Maple.“Kym, tell this woman who you are.”

Maple looked back and forth between
the two of them.“I…”This wasn’t how she wanted the truth to get
out.

“Go on,” Lachesis prompted.“Weave your tale of lies.I know who and what you really are.”

She frowned slightly, brushing a
few wisps of hair back behind her ear.“I’m sorry.”

Fiyero took Maple’s shoulders,
pulling her away from the crowd.“What’s the matter?Tell them
it’s not true.”

Blinking back a few tears, Maple
looked up into Fiyero’s gorgeous eyes.“My name is Maple,” she said quietly.

His hands fell away from her.“What?”

“I’m a witch’s apprentice.”

The prince took a step back.“Stop.”

“I’m from Labrynna.I’ve never even been to Ruatha.”

“You see, your majesty?” Lachesis
said smugly, stepping in their direction.“She admits it.I’ve already
taken the liberty of having her escort thrown in the dungeon.We await your orders on this girl.”

Fiyero didn’t take his eyes off of
Maple.“You lied to me.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“You lied!

“It wasn’t supposed to be like
this.”

“Your majesty?” Lachesis interjected.

He shook his head, his eyes glazing
over.“Take her away,” he said
softly.The guards stood in confusion,
looking at each other.“Take her away!”
Fiyero roared, his voice shaking the chandelier.Angrily, he surged forward and ripped the medallion from Maple’s
neck.It fell to the floor with a loud
clatter.

“I’m sorry,” Maple sobbed as the
frightened guards carted her out of the room.She didn’t bother to put up a fight, nor did she chant any jinxes or
spells.All she did was turn her head
to look over her shoulder at Fiyero as she was removed from the room.

“Well, that was an ugly scene,”
Lachesis said breezily.“I’m so sorry
you had to get caught up in that.”

“Yes…”

“Well, she had us all fooled.”

“Yes.”Like a zombie, Fiyero numbly crossed the room, returning to his
throne.Unceremoniously, he sank down
into his seat, resting his elbows on the armrests and cradling his head in his
hands.“How many of the guests are
left?”

“I’m afraid everyone has fled.”

“Are there any candidates for my
hand remaining?”

“Only one.”

“Who?”“Phillia.”

Fiyero nodded slightly.He slowly drew himself up straight, casting
his eyes about the empty room.“I want
you to make a proclamation,” he told Lachesis in a stern, hollow voice.

“Yes, your majesty?”

“Spread word to all the courtiers
and nobles of Galaxia.There shall be a
wedding this morning.”

“A wedding, your majesty?”

“I will marry Phillia,” he said.

A smile spread across Lachesis’
face.“She will be most pleased to hear
it, my lord.”

“Be on your way,” he replied
coldly.

“Your majesty…there is one further
matter to discuss, regarding this dreadful hoax.”

“What is it?”

“The Hylian.”

“Link?”

“He vouched for our false
princess.”

“He did.”

“That makes him one of this
confederacy.For all we know, he didn’t
come as an ambassador from Ruatha at all.”

“Perhaps…”

“Shall I have the guards arrest
him?”

“No,” Fiyero decided.

“No?”

“He saved my life last night.”

“But your majesty, for all we know,
it was he that ordered the assassins, merely to defeat them and endear himself
to you.”

“One of them is dead.The other four were all Galaxian.Link did not send for them.”

“But your majesty!”

“I’ve made up my mind, Lachesis,”
he told her in a frightfully calm voice.

“As you wish.”

He frowned a bit, his eyes never
focusing.“But you are correct about
him being part of the confederacy.”

“Shall I have him thrown in the
dungeon?”

“He saved my life.I’ll not harm him.”

“Then what shall I do?”

“I hereby decree,” Fiyero said
slowly, “that the Hylian known as Link is banished from my lands.I want him out of here by noon.”

“Your will be done,” Lachesis
replied, bowing deeply to Fiyero.

“Get out.”

Lachesis didn’t need to be told
twice.She shot out of the throne room
as quickly as she could, grinning like a jack-o-lantern.Fiyero was alone at last.He couldn’t describe the feeling deep in his
chest.He felt empty, completely
vacant, as if someone had ripped out his heart.And in a sense, someone had.

Ralph hated dungeons.To be certain, he didn’t know anyone who was
overly fond of them, but he absolutely detested them; the way they smelled, the
way they felt, the way the little hairs on his neck always stood up on end
whenever he was confined to a small space.All right, so Ralph had never actually been locked up in a dungeon.Still, he intrinsically knew the suffocating
sensation he was experiencing now.

He had already walked the length of
his cell repeatedly, tried to lie down on the cot, tried climbing up the wall
to look out of the ground level window, high above his head.There seemed to be nothing left to do to
keep his mind off of his fears.This
morning, he had received a rude awakening.Even before the sun rose, several knights had bombarded his room and
dragged him, still in his nightshirt, down to the dungeon.There had been no explanation, no warrant,
no words even.When Ralph had tried to
cry out, his own sock had been shoved in his mouth.

In the dungeon, he had been allowed
to scream all he cared to.It made no
difference.They were far below ground,
in an abandoned wing of the castle.Once he had satisfied his desires to scream, he tried to find any other
way to keep his mind busy.All the
while, a nagging thought haunted him.When?When would someone come to
see him?When would he find out what he
had done to deserve this?When would
Link come to his rescue?When?When?When?

There was a faint clanking noise
somewhere above him.At once, Ralph new
he wouldn’t be alone long.In his mind,
he tried to picture the fantastic battle Link was raging with the guards to
release him from his cell.He could
just see it now.Link would come
charging down those steps any minute now, brandishing his sword, perhaps an
ugly cut on the left side of his face, just across the corner of his eye.

The noise grew steadier and
louder.Though Ralph struggled in a
vain attempt to cling to his hopes, he knew it was for nothing.That steady sound wasn’t the noise of a
battle.It was the noise of men
marching in formation.With a withered
sigh, Ralph sank down, sitting on the cot.Still, the noise was growing louder.At least something involving the dungeon would soon take place.

Somewhere beyond Ralph’s
sightlines, the door to the dungeon flew open.The guards rushed down the stairs, coming straight up the center of the
cellblock.Ralph rose to his feet again
as he saw two of them approach his cell.One of them shoved a key into the lock and turned it until there was a click;
the other one pulled the door open.Ralph took a step forward in the direction of the door, but then Maple
was hurled in, crashing into Ralph and sending them both to the floor.

As quickly as they descended, the
guards vanished, locking the door behind them.The noise of armor grew faint.“Maple?” Ralph asked, standing up and offering her a hand. “What happened?”

“What happened?”Maple seized Ralph’s hand violently and
threw him down to the floor.“What
happened?!?”

“I see you’re upset.”

Maple got to her feet.“Upset?Me?Upset?I’m the opposite of upset.I’m very upset!!!”

“That’s not the –”

“Shut up!”

“Right.”

Maple stalked across the room,
violently ripping the gold net off of her head.She flung it down on the floor with a loud, “Aggghhh!”

Carefully, Ralph got up again.“What happened?”

Without looking at him, Maple
replied, “They found out.”

“What?How?”

“I don’t know!”

“You didn’t come clean, did you?”

“No.That wasn’t how I wanted Fiyero to find out.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Lachesis knew.”

“Lachesis…” Ralph muttered.“The walking bad attitude?”

“Yes.”

Ralph ran a hand through his
hair.“Huh.”

There was a brief silence before
Maple spoke again.When she did, it was
in a small, frightened voice.“What are
they going to do to us?”

“You’ve got nothing to worry
about,” Ralph told her firmly.

“Why not?”“Link will be down here any
minute to rescue us.”If Maple wanted
to refute this statement, she didn’t say anything.“Actually, I’m kind of glad we have a few minutes to ourselves.Maple, there’s something I want to tell
you.”

“He was disgusted.”

“What?”

“Fiyero.He would barely look at me.”

“Maple…”

Finally, she turned to face
Ralph.There were tears in her eyes and
even more streaming down her cheeks.“He wouldn’t look at me.”

“It’ll be all right, Maple.”

She shook her head violently.“No, no, it can never be all right.”

“Don’t talk like that, Maple.”

“You don’t understand, Ralph.”

“What don’t I understand?”

“I love him.”

Ralph could feel himself deflate
almost instantly.“What?”

“I love him, Ralph.I do.”

“Oh.”

Somewhere above them, wafting down
through the ground level window, the sound of bells could be heard.After a moment, she wiped her eyes.“What did you want to tell me?” she asked
thickly.

“What?Oh, nothing.I
just…”From out of their line of
vision, Ralph and Maple heard the door to the dungeon slam open.Ralph attempted a small laugh.“See?What did I tell you?Here comes
Link.”

But it wasn’t Link who greeted
their sights.Instead, a lanky, funny
looking man with a bundle of cloth under his arm appeared on the other side of
the dungeon bars.“Who are you?” Maple
asked.

“My name is Jason,” he replied.

“What are you doing here?” Ralph
questioned him.

“Oh, I’m breaking you out.”

“What?”

“I’m breaking you out.”As if to illustrate his point, Jason pulled
a ring of keys from his pocket and began fiddling through them, trying to find
the proper one.

Jason turned the key and pulled the
door open for Maple and Ralph.He
tossed the bundle of clothing to Ralph.“Because, I love Phillia.And
Fiyero loves you.Now hurry.We have a wedding to break up.”

As Link passed down the hall, he
knew something was going on.The bells
were anything but subtle.Yet, for the
life of him, he couldn’t figure out what the trouble was.When he woke in the morning, there had been
a slip of paper under his door from the castle steward, telling him that a
message had arrived with his name on it.Curious and surprised, Link made his way to the small, cramped room in
which the steward worked and received his letter.It had a royal seal on it, clearly from Ruatha.Link was actually quite surprised that a
letter bearing the Ruathan stamp had made it to his possession without being
opened, but deciding not to fret about it too much he took his correspondence
and left as quickly as possible.

Now, as he made his way down the
hall, his head aching a bit from the clamor of the bells, he allowed himself to
slowly peel away the wax.He rolled it
into an amorphous lump in his hand.No
sense in leaving more evidence that he was involved with Ruatha.Opening the letter, he immediately
recognized the handwriting of Corbel’s captain.

“Dear Link,” he read aloud, coming
to a stop right in the middle of the hall.“On the orders of the king, I write you this letter of great
importance.I hope you know at least
some of the history between Ruatha and Galaxia, for I do not have time to
include it all in this letter.”

Link paused at this, straining his
brain to remember everything he had been told by King Corbel.Unfortunately, Link wasn’t the best of
students, so only fragments came back to him.There was something about a naval voyage.The Agave clan.A peace
treaty.It was forty five years ago,
wasn’t it?Or was it fifty four?Link couldn’t remember for sure.

He turned down to the page
again.“Intelligence has reached us
here in Ruatha that a survivor of the Agave clan is dwelling among the
courtiers of Prince Fiyero’s court.I am
writing to warn you of this for the Agave are a dangerous race, not to be
trusted by anyone…”

“Truer words were never spoken.”

Blue eyes shot up from the page and
Link saw Lachesis approaching him down the hallway.“You shouldn’t sneak up on people.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You need to whistle.Or hum.”

“I don’t hum.”

“Everybody hums.”

“I don’t.”

“Oh, sure you do,” Link insisted,
edging away from her as she neared.“You probably just don’t notice it.Maybe in the sho –”

“Shut up.”

Link’s eyes narrowed at this.If there was one thing he couldn’t tolerate,
it was being told to shut up.“That’s
not very nice.”

“I’m not a very nice person.”

“You know, I’ve noticed that.”

“Your friend, a Ruathan I’m
guessing, is right, you know.”

“Yeah?”

“The Agave are a dangerous race.”

“I see.”

“Although, I do think it’s unfair
to judge a person based solely on their race.‘Not to be trusted by anyone,’ is that how it went?”

Link glanced down at the
letter.As he did, he caught a small
drawing on the bottom, right near the signature.The image showed three intersecting spirals, each one tipped with
a square shaped dot.“Yeah,” Link
replied slowly.

“That would sort of be like calling
all Hylians nosey little creatures who tend to butt into business which isn’t
their own.”

“Well, if that’s our reputation, I
might as well make good on it,” Link decided smugly.“What’s going on?What
are the bells for?”

“Prince Fiyero’s wedding.”

Immediately, Link could feel his
throat dry up a bit.“Who’s he going to
marry?” he asked.

“My sister, Phillia.”

“But what about –”

“Your fake Princess Kym?” Lachesis
interrupted.“Yes, we found out all
about that.”

“Oh.”

“She’s been taken to the dungeon,
along with her escort.They’ll have
their trial in a few weeks.”

“Fiyero won’t allow it.”

“Not only will he allow it, but
these actions were taken under his orders.And I have one additional order to deal with.”

“What’s that?”

“By decree of Prince Fiyero, son of
Aeschylus, son of Derrial of the Cilissa clan, you are to be banished from this
land.”

Link took a step back, his hand
slowly drifting to the hilt of his sword.“Unfortunate for me.”

“He won’t even wonder.He’ll assume you just slipped away in all
the excitement.And he’ll never think
of you again.”With that, she pulled
her knife from her corset, pointing it at Link’s neck.

“Be careful,” he said quietly, “I
have arteries in that neck and I’m rather attached to them.”

“That can be fixed.”

“Okay,” Link said loudly, knocking
her wrist away.“This game of scary
talk has gone far enough.”

Lachesis whipped her hand back into
place, pointing the knife at him.“No
one’s playing a game.”

Again, Link pushed her weapon
aside.“You’re not going to kill me,”
he said calmly.

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because.” Link answered, boldly
taking a step in her direction.

“Because what?”

“Just because.”

Link was close enough now that he
pulled his leg back before ramming his knee upward, smashing it against
Lachesis’ wrist.She yelped in surprise
and dropped the weapon, letting it clatter to the floor.This, however, did not stop her from
attacking.Shrieking like a keese, she
launched herself forward, latching onto Link’s throat with her fingers and
driving her long nails into his skin.

Grabbing her wrists, Link spun her
off of him, stepping back as he coughed.Lachesis recovered in a heartbeat and charged again, knocking them both
to the floor with Lachesis on top.She
pulled back her fist and punched him in the face, but when she geared up to do
it a second time, Link tilted his head to one side and her fist hit the floor,
a loud cracking coming from her knuckles.

That obviously hurt her because she
yowled like a wounded animal and blood began trickling from her hand onto the
floor near Link’s head.His body had
begun to shiver, as was typical for Hylians in the presence of danger, but now,
as her blood dripped onto his ear, he felt a burning sensation crawl over his
skin.With a grunt, he grabbed her
sides and threw her off of him, sending her into the wall.

As Link rolled to his feet, so did
Lachesis.She looked decidedly the
worse for wear.Her hand was bleeding
profusely and appeared pretty broken.“Broke your hand,” Link told her.

“Got another,” Lachesis
replied.Her eyes lit up, glowing green
as she raised her other hand.A ball of
green energy appeared in it.

“I hate it when that happens,” Link
muttered.

Lachesis hurled the ball at
him.Deftly, Link dodged out of the
way, slamming hard into the wall.Before Lachesis could summon up a second blast, he rolled forward,
crashing into her legs and sending her off balance.Her sleeve caught on the panel and ripped, pulling clean off of
her shoulder.Link had only a moment to
glance at her clan symbol when Lachesis suddenly vanished in a puff of green
smoke.It had been moment enough, for
Link was quite certain that the spirals on Lachesis’ arm perfectly matched the
drawing in his letter, warning him about the Agave clan.

Galaxian religion was a complicated
thing.The Galaxians worshipped four
major goddesses, each with a different realm to rule.In addition, however, there were four minor deities, one of whom
was considered to actually be more powerful than the four major ones.In light of this fact, Galaxian sanctuaries
were built in a complex manner.The
room was shaped like an octagon.Four
of the sides were very long, each one representing one of the major
goddesses.The four other walls were
much shorter to represent the minor gods, however, the altar was placed in
front of the wall for the most powerful.

The shaman stood before the altar,
lighting eight candles, four of them gold, the other four silver.He wore a dark navy robe made of velvet,
studded with pearls in the shape of the symbol for the Kostya clan, the clan
which dominated religion.On his head
was an elaborate headdress of the same blue shade.Once he had finished lighting the candles, he turned around to
face up the aisle in between the pews of the temple.The door on the opposite side of the room actually led directly
into a castle corridor, as this was the private royal chapel.Flanking the doors on either side was a host
of knights, Prince Fiyero’s honor guard.

Prince Fiyero himself had not made
his entrance, however, his blushing bride, Phillia, stood beside the
shaman.The poor girl was weeping
hysterically, drying her tears with the end of her long, window sleeve.Her gown was positively stunning.It was an artifact dating back to the clan
days, said to be the first royal wedding gown.Most of the courtiers assembled to watch the wedding highly doubted that
the gown was really so old.If that
were the case then the delicate lilac fabric would have absolutely crumpled
away under the flood of Phillia’s tears.

Loudly, the doors to the room were
drawn open to reveal Prince Fiyero, standing in his formal attire from last
night.His chiseled jaw was set firm in
the air and he was not smiling.As he
walked stiffly down the aisle to the altar, all the people fought from
whispering.How solemn he looked on
such a joyful occasion, coronation and wedding in one!It felt more like a funeral.Adding to this ominous feeling was the fact
that Phillia’s sobs grew louder as the prince neared her.Behind him, the door slammed shut, rattling
the candles in their sacred holders.

Grandly, the shaman raised his
hands, singing aloud to the goddesses in the ancient language of his clan.Fiyero arrived at the front of the
sanctuary, standing opposite Phillia.When
he looked at her, the cold determination in his eyes wavered slightly into surprise.He caught himself quickly though, returning
to his steely gaze at once.

The shaman finished his chant.“The gods are come from nature to bless this
union,” he said in his cracked, ancient voice.“Moon.Sun.Rainbow.Wind.Ruled by Twilight.”

“They stand beside every altar, they
stand beside every pyre.Moon.Sun.Rainbow.Wind.Ruled by Twilight.”

“Moon.Sun.Rainbow.Wind.Ruled by Twilight.”

“They hear a baby’s first newborn
tears.They see the end of time, for
those both great and small.Moon.Sun.Rainbow.Wind.Ruled by Twilight.”

“Moon.Sun.Rainbow.Wind.Ruled by Twilight.”

“This is a day of ascension,” the
shaman said, breaking out of his hypnotic verse.“Today, our prince attains a higher status of life.But, can not all weddings be called
ascensions, even if they do not come with a coronation?For, to be in love is to achieve
godhood.Those in love can both create
and destroy, make peace and make war, live forever and wish they had never
existed at all.”

Phillia’s sobbing swelled in
volume.

“The responsibilities you face as
king, Fiyero, are no more important than those you face as a husband and
father.They pale in comparison.For in your hands, you are taking
responsibility for another life, just as you, Phillia, are doing the same.You give each other a precious gift.You give each other your hearts.If this gift is not taken care of then the
kingdom will feel it.”

The door to the sanctuary burst
open.There was an astonished gasp from
the spectators as a skinny, funny looking man tore down the aisle, waving his
hands up in the air and crying, “Stop the wedding, stop the wedding!”

“Guards!” Fiyero shouted.

Instantly, several guards broke
position from where they stood and began chasing after him.“Jason!” Phillia cried.

With a good head start, Jason
arrived at the altar before the knights.“Your majesty,” he panted, stepping in between Phillia and Fiyero,
shoving the shaman out of the way.“I
beg you; call off this farce of a wedding!”

The guards arrived, encircling the
altar with their pikes pointed at Jason’s throat.“How dare you defile this house of worship,” the shaman croaked
indignantly.

Fiyero was examining Jason.“I’ve seen you before.”

“I’m one of the kitchen drudges,”
Jason said.

The prince nodded.“I see.And where does a kitchen drudge work up the gall and the presumption to
interrupt his master’s wedding.”

“I know what I’ve done is wrong,”
Jason answered, “and if death is to be my punishment, then I willingly accept
it.But my conscience wouldn’t allow me
to stand idly by.”

“Your conscience?How does your conscience factor into this?”

“I could not allow this loveless
marriage to take place,” Jason explained breathlessly.

All around them, the nobility began
muttering.“Loveless marriage?” Fiyero
questioned him.

By this point, Phillia had worked
her way in between the knights, coming to Jason’s side.Jason put an arm around her waist.“Yes,” he responded fearlessly.“You see, I love Phillia.”

“And does she return your love?”
Fiyero went on, looking more at the girl than at Jason.

“Because…”Jason turned his head to face up the aisle
to the entrance.Everyone followed his
gaze.Standing in the doorway, flanked
by guards on either side, was Maple.

Fiyero could not fight a wavering
in his voice.“Kym…” he whispered.

“Maple,” Jason corrected him.“Your majesty,” he added quickly.

With one last glance at Jason and
Phillia, Fiyero moved aside his knights and began running up the aisle.Maple sprang into action, racing to meet him
halfway.In the center of the aisle,
Fiyero stopped short, just before reaching her.“You still lied to me,” he reminded her.

“I know,” Maple said.

“Why did you do it?”

“I was only doing a favor for
Ralph.I never dreamed that in a
million years I would…”

“Yes?”

“I would fall in love with you.”

His eyes glazed over.“Say it again.”

“I love you, Fiyero,” she told him.

At once, he surged forward the
final step, gathering her in his arms and kissing her passionately, before the
courtiers, the knights, and the astonished shaman.When he was finally forced to pull away, he looked at her, taking
her shoulders in his hands.“I love
you, Maple.”

“Say it again.”

“I –”

“Just,” she interrupted him.“Just say my name.”

“Maple.”

With a silly grin, Maple fell
forward into his arms, resting her cheek against his chest.“Thank you.”

Annoyed and ignored, the shaman
cleared his throat loudly.“Is there
going to be a wedding today or not?” he asked bitterly.

“Yes,” Fiyero replied
immediately.He took Maple’s hand and
pulled her down the aisle, dismissing the guards with a wave of his hand.Jason and Phillia stepped back quickly.“Maple shall be queen of Galaxia.Will you have me, Maple?”

“Yes,” Maple said.“A thousand times over again.”

“Your majesty,” the shaman said
irritably.“I hate to remind you, but
this girl is not a princess, she’s a witch.”

“Am I ruler of this kingdom?”

“Well…certainly, but –”

“Then I will have no other queen.”

“So be it,” the old man replied
irritably.

Fiyero turned to look at Jason and
Phillia.“And as for you,” he said in a
cold, angry voice.Then, he broke into
a wide smile.“Off with you two.”

With that, Jason took off down the
aisle, pulling Phillia behind him, completely deaf to the scandalized gasps of
the courtiers, watching the ancient dress vanish back into the depths of the
castle.Meanwhile, Fiyero turned to
face Maple, taking both of her hands in his.He kissed each of them.“Now,
shaman,” he said, never taking his eyes off of the girl, the one destined to be
his wife.

Link was sprinting through the
castle, sword drawn, a thousand times grateful that all of Fiyero’s knights
seemed to be tied up with the wedding.If Link had been running the castle, there would have been better
security, but since Link was not running the castle, and in fact had been
labeled an enemy, he was glad for the sloppy placement of the guards.He couldn’t really explain it, but he knew
exactly where Lachesis was going.Every
instinct in every fiber of his being screamed out her location, so Link
unconsciously made his way, focusing his mind on what he would do once he
arrived where ever it was.

Lachesis was the Agave he had been
warned about, he was certain of it.What this meant, he couldn’t really be sure, but he knew now that she
was more than just a walking bad attitude.She was a dangerous walking bad attitude.Vainly, Link wished he had paid more attention to Corbel’s lectures
about the relations between the Galaxians and Ruathans.Perhaps then, he might have some clue about
Lachesis’ motives.Then again, he was
much better at hitting things with his big sword than pausing to piece the
puzzles together.Wisdom was not his
strongest virtue.

Trusting his feet, Link made a hard
left, throwing himself sword first into the throne room.He skidded to a halt, blinking, unable to
trust his eyes for a moment.There she was,
Lachesis, standing in the middle of the room, tending to her wounded hand
gingerly.

She heard his footsteps and turned
to face him.“You.”

“Me.”

“You’re really a glutton for
punishment, do you know that?”

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Link
answered.

“Or perhaps you’re just curious.”

“Curious?”

“Yes,” Lachesis said, dropping the
bandages in her hands.

“Of what?”

“Perhaps you’d like to see what a
full grown Agave is truly capable of with the proper training.”

“Not really…”

“Now, now, don’t be shy,” Lachesis
said gently.With that, she held her
hand up, eyes glowing green.“I’ve been
trained for retribution since the day I was born.”A ball of energy collected over her hand.“Sit down.Watch the show.”At once, she
fired the blast at Link.He jumped,
dodging the blow but landing on the floor in a terrific swan dive.“I give a killer performance.”

“Puns,” Link grimaced, “why do they
always have to resort to puns?”

Lachesis held her arms out, the
glow in her eyes getting so bright that it radiated out to cover her entire
face.“School is in session,” she
hissed.

“If you tell me I’m going to flunk,
I swear I’ll just kill myself.”

“That would spoil all the
fun.”The glow consumed her entire
torso now and began creeping down her legs and arms.

“Are we going to fight?Or are you going to talk me to death?”

“Watch and learn, little boy.”

Lachesis was a humanoid composed of
bright green light, it seemed.Slowly
at first, but gradually faster and faster, her form began to change.The first change Link noticed was a long,
thick tail which appeared from behind her.Next, he realized that she was growing steadily taller, and that her
arms seemed to be melting into her body.She had assumed the shape of an amorphous blob, it seemed:Something reminding Link horribly of his
experiences in Holodrum and in Labrynna, much to his dismay.

The glow slowly began to die down
and Link’s fears were realized.The
beautiful, although frightening, woman had disappeared.Lachesis had transformed into a creature
completely alien to Link.She looked a
bit like a snake with two long, powerful legs, only instead of scales her body
was covered in green fur.Two yellow
horns crowned her head, each one looking deadly sharp.Her eyes took on a wolfish quality.Speech seemed impossible in this form.Lachesis merely roared.In a sense, Link could understand what she
was saying, though he didn’t know how.

Rising to his feet, he smirked a
bit.“You look just like a substitute
teacher I once had,” he quipped.

That certainly seemed to set her
off.Lachesis lowered her head, aiming
the horns directly at Link and charged.Having small size as an advantage, Link was agile enough to duck out of
the way, letting Lachesis stick her horns deep into the wall behind him.Link ran halfway across the room before
turning to face the beast.His mind was
racing now, examining every inch of the struggling, stuck creature, trying to
find the vulnerable point.To be
certain, Lachesis wasn’t very practiced in this body, Link could use that to
his advantage, but where was it best for him to strike?

Just as Lachesis managed to pull
her horns out of the wood, the door to the throne room flew open and Ralph came
racing inside.“Hey, Link!” he shouted.

“Ralph, watch –”

Too late!Not aware of the monster beside him, Ralph ran, tripping over her
tail and falling face first to the floor.Lachesis seemed to take extreme umbrage with this and roared
furiously.Almost sounding like she was
in pain.Link furrowed his brow,
watching as the gigantic beast shrieked and moaned over such a slight offense.

By this point, Ralph had rolled
over onto his back.He stared up, his
eyes growing wide in horror.“What
the…?”

“Lachesis,” Link explained.“Get back.”

He didn’t have to be told
twice.Ralph scrambled to his feet,
racing over to the dais and hiding behind the throne.“How did she…?”

“Magic,” Link cut him off.“I’ll explain later.”

“Are you going to kill her?”

“I certainly hope so.”

In determination, Link clutched his
sword in both hands and raced forward.Lachesis had recovered from her shock and growled, barring a line of
lime green teeth at Link.Two beams of
green energy shot out of her eyes, flying directly at Link.He stopped in his tracks, pulled back his
sword, and swung it, cracking the beams as if they were solid and sending them
flying back at Lachesis.One of them
bounced off of her head and seemed to have no impact on her, but the other hit
her tail with such force that it sent a trail of smoke up into the air, filling
the throne room with the scent of singed fur and flesh.

“She looks really mad now,” Ralph
called from the sidelines.

“Would you be happy if someone
turned your attack back on you?”

“No.”

“No monsters ever are.”

“You’ve had experience with this
kind of beast?”

“A little.”

By this point, Lachesis launched a
second attack at Link.One beam managed
to get by him, grazing his shoulder and burning right through his tunic
sleeve.Despite the pain, however, he
managed to bat the second blast back, again hitting Lachesis right in the tail.

“She’s going to kill you,” Ralph
called.

“No, she’s just throwing a temper
tantrum.”

“She should cut it out.”

“I’ll save her the trouble and cut
it off,” Link declared.Gripping his
sword as tightly as possible, he raced forward, a slightly mad look in his
eyes.With a determined swing, he
brought the sword directly down, slicing off Lachesis’ tail.She shrieked and wailed, flashing like a
green light.As Link and Ralph watched,
the beast’s body began to degenerate.Arms separated from the main body as it shrunk back to humanoid
proportions.Her dress shredded and
bloody, Lachesis fell beside the severed tail, still writhing in agony.Lachesis, for her part, was eerily still.

The last echo of bestial screaming
died out, plunging the room into a deep silence.Slowly, Ralph stood up, peering out from behind the throne.When he saw nothing stir, he carefully made
his way down the hall, coming to a rest at Link’s side.“Is she dead?”

“She’s dead.”

“Is anyone going to believe what
happened here?”

“Good question.”

Ralph nodded.He waited a moment.“What happened here?”

Despite himself, Link grinned,
clapping Ralph on the back.“I’ll
explain it to you later.But first, I
think we’d better explain it to the people who actually live in this castle.Common courtesy, you know.”

“Of course.”

Link pulled Ralph against his side
for a moment in a friendly hug.Then,
he released the other man and walked over to the door, right past the large
holes in the wall where Lachesis had stuck her horns.He was about to exit the room, but turned back to see Ralph
standing there, completely motionless.“Are you coming?” he asked.

Ralph blinked.“What?Oh…right.”Together, they left
the room, leaving behind the still form of Lachesis and her tail.There would be time for tales soon enough.

The events of the throne room were
soon the talk of the kingdom, despite Fiyero’s best efforts to keep things
quiet.Aided by Phillia, the entire
story was assembled, how there had been a surviving sect of Agave who had been
silently plotting revenge against Ruatha for years.The personal writings of Lachesis told most of the story.Phillia and Jason, though both Agave and accessories
to Lachesis’ plotting were both granted a full pardon in light of their efforts
to help uncover the truth.All
additional Agave were asked to step forward, though few turned up.

Link and Ralph were heralded as
heroes for their actions against the beast.Ralph’s lies in relation to Maple’s identity were forgiven.As per Link’s requests, Fiyero called off
all hostilities against Ruatha.The
body of the trampled man found outside on the night of the ball was also
identified by Link as the trouble maker who had been burning not only Ruathan
wells, but Galaxian wells as well, each time in the name of the monarchy.

Several days later, all the
activity calmed down and Ralph found himself alone in the courtyard.His plans were to simply slip away unnoticed
and return to Labrynna.The last thing
he wanted to face was what happened.As
he sat underneath a large tree, composing a long letter to Nayru about how he
had been unable to obtain her Amulet, he heard the sound of footsteps coming up
the cobblestone path.

When he looked up, he saw Maple
approaching him.Her purple, royal
robes sat well on her, but she was much the same girl as ever.For a brief moment, he considered ducking
behind a plant or tree to avoid any contact with her, but he realized that
wouldn’t be an option.She had seen
him.She had come to see him.

She laughed lightly, but her smile
soon faded away.“I owe you so much,
Ralph,” she told him sincerely.

Ralph waved aside the comment with
his hand.“Nah.”

“I really do,” Maple insisted.“Without you, none of this would ever have
happened.”

He dipped his head slightly.“I owed it.”

“There’s so much to do now.So much to think about.Being a queen and all.”

“You won’t even have time to miss
me when I’m gone,” Ralph told her.

“Of course I’ll miss you.”

“You will?”

“Ralph, you mean the world to me.”

“Really?”

“You have my word.”

He smiled.“Thank you, Maple.”

“No, thank you Ralph.You brought me to my one true love.”She tilted her head to one side, looking at
him for a moment.“It’s funny.I always thought it would be you.”

Before Ralph could respond, Maple
raised her hands to a chain around her neck.She pulled off her necklace and leaned forward, putting it around
Ralph’s neck, the medallion bouncing against his chest.With a small, funny smile, one that only
Maple could claim, she gave him a kiss on the cheek.That accomplished, she turned on heel, walking away and
disappearing into the depths of the courtyard.

Ralph stood there, motionless.He was so dumbfounded that it took him a few
moments to realize that Link had appeared at his side.“She’s quite the girl,” Link said, watching
where Maple had disappeared.

“Yeah,” Ralph agreed.

“She’ll make a terrific queen.”

“You think so?”

Link nodded.“I can tell.”

“How?”

“Look down.”

“What?”

“Look down.”

Hesitantly, Ralph obeyed.His eyes fell on the amulet around his neck,
emblazoned on one side with a sapling and on the other side with an enormous
tree.“Is that…”

“The Amulet of Secrets.”

“Are you certain?”

“That looks like the Maku Tree to
me.”

He chuckled slightly, turning the
medal over and over in his hands.“Well, what do you know?”

“Come on,” Link said.He clapped Ralph on the back.“Let’s get that back to Nayru.”

“Aren’t you going home?”

“Eh.Eventually.Don’t
worry.You still get all the credit.”

Together, Link and Ralph set
off.They turned their backs on Galaxia
with its newly named King and Queen.They turned their backs on the mess with Lachesis and her brutal
agenda.They turned their backs on the
Kym Tree.Yet that tree would keep on
growing, standing as a testament to the love between the King and Queen.And, while it would earn itself a new name
in the ages to come, leaving the old name to be forgotten, no one could ever
forget just what it stood for.